Splatoon: Pure White
by Solace451
Summary: Chiro travels to Inkopolis to live a normal life. However, he is thrown into many difficult situations as he meets many formidable Turf War players that belong to the strongest group in Inkopolis, the Elite 10. To make things interesting, Chiro has a unique hair color: white, and doesn't know a thing about Turf Wars before meeting a girl named Vivi. Some suggestive stuff.
1. Chiro

**Splatoon: Pure White**

 **Chapter 1:**

The train ride was relatively quiet for the majority of the trip. A young Inkling boy swinging his short, recently-formed lower limbs, or legs, looked contently out the window as the enormous skyscrapers appeared to go by. Or rather, he was trying to distract himself from all the stares he was receiving from the other Inkling boys and girls on the train.

"Why are they staring at me? They have been doing that for the entire four hour trip. Is there something on my face?" The Inkling boy thought to himself as he felt around his face with his hands to see if there was really anything on his face.

In actuality, all the other passengers were staring at his hair. This Inkling in particular possessed a very unique hair color: white. There has never been an Inkling in recorded history that had such a color for their hair.

"What's wrong with his hair?" An Inkling boy whispered to the person sitting next to him.

"I'm not sure. He could possibly have a disease, or he might have dyed it to be rebellious." The Inkling girl suggested.

"That's not possible. I don't recall Inkopolis, or any location in the world for that matter, having a supply of white ink for Inklings to change into that color. Also, where did he get those sandals? I kind of want them." Another girl interjected.

The murmurs continued as the White Inkling scratched the back of his head sheepishly in embarrassment from all the unwanted attention he was getting and looking unusual for frantically rubbing his entire face in front of everyone. Every time he looked at the other Inklings, they instantaneously looked in other directions to seem as if they weren't talking at all, but they recommenced with their whispering when he looked away.

The Inkling boy with white hair now just stared at his small suitcase and prayed that they would arrive in Inkopolis soon. He was young like many of the other Inklings; his name is Chiro (Chee- roh).

Chiro, of course, had white hair tied in the back and light-green eyes. He wore a simple, green zip hoodie and the common black shorts with white lines adorning the sides. He wore black sandals, uncommon apparel for Inklings, and had Splash Goggles on his head.

"My hair? What's wrong with the color of my hair? I thought other Inklings would have this color. Is it that weird? Am I a freak now? Ink me! Why did mom suddenly decide to send me to Inkopolis now? People are looking at me funny." Chiro continued asking these questions as he tried to ignore all the stares.

"But he is kind of cute."

This caught Chiro's attention. He looked over at an Inkling girl with orange hair and blue eyes whispering with another girl that was giggling. Chiro presumed that she was the one who said that since both of them looked away giggling as soon as he made eye contact with them.

A light blush crept on the young boy's cheeks.

"Girls are so weird." Chiro muttered to himself. Soon, static could be heard over the PA system.

" **Attention. Attention all passengers. We will be arriving in Inkopolis in five minutes. Please secure all your belongings and prepare to leave. We thank you for riding Squid Rails and hope you ride with us in the future. Thank you and have a nice day."** The conductor's announcement ended and all the other Inklings began to gather their stuff.

Chiro sighed in relief, "Finally, now I can get away from these Inkers."

The train soon arrived at the Inkopolis Train Station and everyone was beginning to exit the carts. Chiro lightly grasped the handle on his suit case and casually strolled his way out as well. The bright afternoon sun emitted a nice, warming embrace, and Chiro couldn't resist moving his arms to shield his eyes from the sunlight so he could see.

"So, this is Inkopolis? It's larger than I could have imagined." Chiro awed at the sight of the bustling Central Plaza. He acknowledged the different shops situated to his left and many restaurants and what appeared to be a studio on the right.

What piqued his interest the most was the enormous tower directly across the plaza.

"That thing is quite large. I wonder what it is used for. Radio transmissions, maybe? That would be the most the appropriate use." Chiro mused over the functionality the tower served until his thoughts were interrupted by a mellow melody playing on the large screen above the studio.

Two girls appeared after a short introduction.

"Hold on to your tentacles…" The pink girl with black hair on the left, which was named Callie by the text on screen, said with excessive exuberance.

"…It's Inkopolis News time!" The green girl with grey hair on the right, named Marie by the text on screen, said in a more monotonous tone.

"We're here to update you all on the current Turf War and Ranked Battle stages."

"Splatastic!"

"Let's unveil the current Turf War stages!"

"Wait for it!"

"There we have it: Urchin Underpass and Kelp Dome! And now for the current Ranked Battle stages."

"Splatastic!"

"And we have Salt Spray Rig and Bluefin Depot!"

"Until next time…Stay Fresh!" Both Callie and Marie exclaimed as they performed a cute pose.

With that, the screen shut off and everyone continued with their own business.

Chiro looked perplexed after the news cast, "Who in the inking world were those two girls? They must be rather famous to have everyone's implicit attention when they came on like that….and what are Turf Wars?"

Chiro shrugged off the questions and walked further into the plaza. He enjoyed all the sights as he took his leisurely time trying to find a place to live.

"Whoa! Do you see that kid? He has white hair!" An Inkling girl yelled in astonishment as she pointed to Chiro. Everyone else that heard her outburst directed their attention to the said boy and stared with wide eyes.

"How's that possible? I've never seen that before. Hey, kid, why is your hair white?!" A boy called out to Chiro, but he ignored him and quickened his pace.

"Wait! At least tell me where you bought those fresh sandals!"

"Great," Chiro groaned, "Why are people so fixated on my hair? It's tied in a similar fashion like all the other boys. It's just white! I'm sure their all in on a practical joke on how they treat white haired boys. Jerks!"

Chiro continued to dismiss all the unusual stares he was getting and eventually found a rather ornate hotel building that caught his attention.

If the hotel's main entrance, which had golden squid statues on both sides of door along with a large ink fountain a ten meters away from the door, wasn't much of an indication of how exquisite the place is, the main lobby sure gave it away.

The main lobby was adorned by ruby red walls with gold squid designs scattered, but elegantly placed, around various portions of the wall. The floor was well waxed marble and marble columns erected high to the ceiling to provide more of an aesthetic appeal than anything else.

Chiro walked in and navigated his way to the receptionist.

"Excuse me, miss." Chiro said.

"Yes?" The receptionist was an adult Inkling, easily twice his size. Her hair was a vibrant shade of pink, and her eyes resembled rich vats of chocolate. She wore typical hotel employee attire.

"I would like to request renting an apartment here, ma'am."

The receptionist only gave him a bewildered look and a long, awkward silence filled the atmosphere around the two.

"Uhhh, child. I'm sorry, but I don't think this place would be appropriate for someone like you." The receptionist tentatively remarked.

"Huh? Why not?" Chiro slightly pouted in disappointment.

"Well….as you see, this hotel is very….sophisticated, and naturally that would imply that living here is very expensive. Also, we house many prominent figures in Inkopolis, like the Squid Sisters for example."

"The Squid Sisters? Who are they?" Chiro asked innocently.

"What! You don't know about the Squid Sisters?! Oh, wait, now I understand," She laughed, "That's a very bad try at a joke, kid."

Chiro blankly stared at her, wondering what he said they gave her the idea he was joking.

"Well, anyway, in addition to those two sweet hearts, we also house the best Turf War players in all of Inkopolis, including…..the Elite Ten!"

"Elite Ten? Sounds interesting. Anyway, you're subtly saying I can't live here because I'm not famous?"

"No, no, don't interpret what I'm saying that way. We don't deny anyone the opportunity to live here, it's just that…..you don't seem like you can afford even our cheapest apartment, so I'm just telling you to find another place within your price range."

"Oh," Chiro exhaled in sadness, "Well, how much does the cheapest apartment cost?"

"Approximately 150,000 Gold coins a month." She answered without hesitation.

Chiro looked at her skeptically.

"Really? That's it? I can easily afford that; I'll take it!" Chiro exclaimed in joy as he began to give her the corresponding amount of coins he hid away in his suitcase.

"W-w-wait a minute, kid. Where did you get all this money?! Did you get all this money from playing Turf Wars? You must be really good to have this much!"

"Hm? Oh, no. I don't even know what Turf Wars are, but my mother is providing me with enough money to live on my own, so that's how I have all this….Ms. Kiara" Chiro care freely responded as he noted her nametag.

Kiara was rendered shocked and speechless, however.

"So, can I have the key to my apartment?"

Kiara didn't respond. Without really looking, she reached over for the apartment key and handed it to the boy.

"Thank you!" Chiro gleefully ran to the nearest elevator and was soon out of sight of Kiara.

More than five minutes passed by before….

Click!

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT TURF WARS ARE?! AND WAIT, WHAT'S WITH THE WHITE HAIR?!" Kiara practically screamed, startling the other guests in the lobby.

"Hehehe, sorry for that, everyone." She nervously laughed and bowed apologetically.

Talk about delayed reaction, huh?

* * *

"Room 405…it should be somewhere on this floor." Chiro was walking through the large hallways and looking at the numbers on each door to find the matching numbers that were on his room card.

"This place is bigger than I thought." His stomach growled. "Aw, ink, I forgot to eat while I was walking around. I need to hurry before my own stomach digests itself."

Chiro was practically running around the hallways and avoiding everybody he saw. After he turned one corner though, he crashed into someone.

"OWWWW, I'm so sor-" Chiro couldn't finish. He realized he was lying on top of an Inkling girl. His head was resting quite awkwardly on her chest while her legs seemed to have somehow intertwine with his. His whole face turned a deep shade of red when the girl slowly opened her eyes and noticed the awkward position they were in.

A light blush crept on her cheeks.

"AHHHHH, a girl!" Chiro screamed as he frantically scrambled off her. The girl stared at him oddly for his behavior and slowly brushed some dust of her clothes as she got up.

"What's wrong with you?" The girl asked. She crossed her arms with an annoyed look and waited for him to respond.

The girl was slightly shorter than Chiro. She had turquoise colored hair and pink eyes. She also wore the typical shorts like all Inklings do and had black trail boots and a Zekko Hoodie.

"Hey, are you going to answer me? Here, at least grab my hand so you can get up…." The girl offered her hand, but Chiro quickly crawled away from her.

"AHHHH, I'M SORRY! I WASN'T PAYING ATTENTION; PLEASE, DON'T HURT ME! I'LL NEVER DO IT AGAIN!" Chiro quickly clutched the handle on his suit case and sprinted down the hallway away from the girl and out of her sight.

"Hey, wait! What the ink was with that kid? He ran off without even apologizing." The girl shrugged and continued walking to where she was going until she suddenly stopped in realization.

"Wait a second. Was I hallucinating because of the crash, or did that kid have white hair?!"

"What are rambling on about now, Vivi?" The said girl turned to find her older sister, Carla, walking up to her.

Carla also had turquoise hair, but had orange eyes. She had an "S" hairclip in her hair and wore a pink sweat shirt and red shoes.

"A kid with white hair knocked me to the floor and ran off screaming without saying he was sorry." Vivi explained.

Carla chuckled a little.

"Well, with that slightly terrifying scowl you make, I can't necessarily blame him for doing that."

"Hey!"

"Besides, white hair? Don't start making up stories like you did when we were younger. Let's go back to our apartment before mom and dad get angry."

"Alright"

The two started making their way toward the elevator.

"So, how was the party?" Vivi asked her sister.

"It was okay. It was the typical party for us. Number 5 didn't bother to show up, again."

"Really? Well, I wouldn't be surprised. From what I hear, Number 5 hasn't shown to any of the parties. You've never even seen who Number 5 is, have you?"

"No, not since I became one of the Elite 10. That inker." Carla slightly growled.

"Careful, sis. You're number 6, now. You should watch how you behave so you don't shame the Elite 10." Vivi snickered as she waved her finger at her.

"Whatever. I don't need to hear that from someone that's not in the Elite 10." Carla pouted.

"Ouch. That hurt my feelings!" Vivi exaggerated by pretending she just got shot with a Splattershot.

* * *

Chiro was panting from all the running and eventually found his apartment. He quickly swiped the key card into the lock and slammed the door as soon as he got inside.

"I can't believe I got that close to a girl! I'm so embarrassed. This has already been an awful day." Chiro slid down against the door to his knees.

"I just turned fourteen two weeks ago. Why did mom send me here of all places now?"

 **So how was it? Please review**.


	2. Re-Encounter

**Splatoon: Pure White**

 **Chapter 2: Re-Encounter**

 **The Next Morning**

A dawn of a new day began as the morning sun slowly ascended on the East of Inkopolis. The early birds chirped a pleasant melody that echoed through the quiet city, and the sounds of adult Inklings starting their cars to depart for their jobs accompanied the quiet start to the morning.

The early morning rays permeated through the gaps between the window blinds of our Inkling's, Chiro's, bedroom window. Soon, the whole room was illuminated by the natural light and Chiro lazily awoke from his sleep.

"Ugh," Chiro groaned, "Is it morning already? Dang it, what time is it?"

Chiro sat up and lifted his arm over to the night stand and grabbed his digital clock. His grogginess slowly faded and his vision focused enough to see the numbers.

"6:45?!," He whined, "Of all the inking times to wake up!"

Chiro practically threw the clock to the floor and managed to disconnect its cord from the power outlet. In anguish, Chiro flopped back down and reached for the remote to turn on the large 60" TV in his room.

The screen slowly flickered on with the Squid Sisters theme playing.

"Good Morning, Inkopolis!" Callie practically shouted.

Chiro, and Marie coincidentally, cringed at her loud voice so early in the morning.

"Callie, please. Don't shout like that so early in the morning." Marie scolded her sister as she took a large sip of squid coffee from her green squid cup. Chiro nodded in agreement to the girl.

"Aww, don't be so grouchy, Marie. You have to more optimistic like me." Callie said as she poked her own cheeks with both her index fingers and grinned.

"*sigh*If I was more like you, our fans would be more annoyed of us than love us." Marie remarked.

Chiro smiled; already liking this Marie girl's attitude.

Callie pouts, "Now that was mean. Our fans love me, regardless, so I'll forget you said that for now."

Marie rolled her vibrant, yet tired eyes as she walked off-screen.

"Anyway, I just wanted to wish all you viewers a good morning and that we'll announce the Turf War and Ranked Battle stages at 8:00 like normal so…Marie, come back. We need to say it now." Callie cupped her hand close to her mouth and shouted to her sister.

"You do it! I'm too tired to do it now!" Marie responded.

Callie deadpanned.

"Okay, jeez. You are definitely not a morning person…Stay Fresh!" Callie said alone as she did a cute pose.

Chiro shut off the television and pinched his temples, fully awake thanks to the unusual broadcast.

"If I remember correctly, Ms. Kiara said those two live here in the hotel. Man, I hope I don't meet them, especially that Marie sister in the morning." Chiro chuckled as he stretched.

Chiro carefully got up from his King-sized bed and opened his bedroom window blinds. His room was very large, which did annoy him a little since it was too much just for him to live in alone.

The bedroom possessed light-blue walls with white frames around the doors to the bathroom and the living room. The carpet was also white along with the bed sheets, comforter, and pillows. Two small black cabinets were situated on both sides of the massive bed with large lamps of similar color.

The bathroom may as well be considered a typical living room itself. It had both a shower lined with granite tiles and see-through sliding glass doors and an enormous bathtub toward the back. A toilet was established at the corner in front of the tub with marble dividers on both sides and a door to provide privacy. The sink, or rather, two sinks were place on a large sink cabinet next to the shower and lined with a lot of individual drawers. It was in front of 40" mirror and across from the walk-in closet. The floor was comprised of sleek, hexagonal tiles that were white, light-gray, or regular gray. The walls were light yellow with squid designs that were a slightly darker shade of yellow.

"Even though this is the cheapest apartment, the size is excessive even for a five star hotel." Chiro groaned.

The main living room was twice the size of the bedroom and bathroom combined. The carpet and walls were the same color as the carpet and walls of the bedroom. An 80" TV was on the wall with a dark gray Crate and Barrel couch across from it and a glass coffee table was in between them.

Lastly, the kitchen was to the left of the entrance. It had granite countertops with three large cabinets hanging above – two near the door and one smaller one above a refrigerator near the bedroom- separated by the large sink. It also had a kitchen island with a stove and white stools around the outside.

"Ink me, maybe I should have asked to see the apartment before deciding to live here. This place is too big for me," Chiro walked to the small back patio, "At least I have a good view of the main plaza from here."

Chiro slowly scanned the plaza from his place and actually took notice of the different stores and Inkopolis Tower.

"Wait a minute; has that giant fish been on the tower this whole time? Why didn't I see something so huge yesterday?" Chiro practically stared at the Great Zapfish which appeared to be staring back at the boy, creeping him out.

"Derp Fish," Chiro commented, "Hey, is that an Ammo Knight store? Coooool. Maybe I should visit one of mom's stores before getting breakfast."

Chiro quickly took care of his hygienic needs and threw on the clothes he wore the day prior to today and ran out.

* * *

Chiro ran through the already heavily crowded plaza and ignored the stares he was getting like he did yesterday because of his hair. He came to an immediate stop when he was right outside the Ammo Knights store and slowly walked in.

However, a certain girl Inkling happened to notice the distinct white glimmer of his hair before he entered the store.

"Huh? Hey, it's that kid that ran into me in the hallway." Vivi pointed to the store in realization.

"Not this again," Carla groaned, "Vivi, I told you to stop with this stupid story. There's no such thing as an Inkling with white hair. It's just your imagination running rampant again."

Vivi and her older sister, Carla, were eating their breakfast at the café located on the other side of the main plaza.

"I'm not lying, sis. I swear I saw him walk into Ammo Knights," Vivi insisted, "Come on, I'll show you that I'm not lying."

"I don't care. Besides, we can't just leave; we just got our food." Carla said while taking a bite of her grilled fish.

Vivi glared at her.

"We can just ask Uncle Joe to keep the table open for us and keep the food warm. He owes dad and us a lot of favors anyway, so he won't mind."

"You shouldn't be so selfish, Vivi. It's wrong to exploit favors like that. It's an attitude like that which partially explains why you can't get a boyfriend." Carla laughed at her little sister's flustered expression.

"Wha-? That has nothing to do with our conversation. Besides, I turned fourteen a week ago, so boys are the last thing on my mind."

"Not the one you keep talking about, apparently." Carla smirked.

Vivi slightly blushed in embarrassment and frustration.

"Anyway, let's just go, or else I'll be happy to tell mom that you want to eat her cooking for the next month." Vivi smirked at her own threat.

Carla was panicking in her mind. Their mom always believed whatever Vivi said, and her cooking was borderline lethal. She remembers mom preparing a simple grilled octopus for dad, and he ended up being put into intensive care and bedridden for a month. Needless to say, she doesn't want to be next.

"Fine, fine. I'll go just to make you look more foolish when we see there isn't a 'Whitey'."

"Thanks for the love, sis. Hey, Uncle Joe, can you watch our table, please? We'll be right back."

The owner, Joe, nodded his head and waved goodbye to his nieces as they walked out.

Vivi gave an 'all-knowing' smirk.

"It's still wrong, even if he's family." Carla scolded while playfully punching her sister on the shoulder.

* * *

Chiro gawked at all the weapons lining the walls of the store as he slowly made his way to the counter. Chiro knew his mother owned a large corporation that handled the manufacturing and distribution of a diverse array of weapons, but he never knew what they were for.

"War, maybe?" Chiro mused. Well, he is right in a sense.

"Hello! Welcome to the store." A small man with large binoculars suddenly popped out from under a hat. Chiro screamed and jumped to the ceiling.

"The no the reaction I was expecting, but hey, you see knew things every day. I'm Sheldon. How can I help you, Mr. White?" Sheldon welcomed the frightened boy still clinging to the ceiling. Chiro eventually dropped down and slowly approached the employee.

"Uh, hi. My name's Chiro Knight. I'm just here to assess how successful my mom's business is in this location." Chiro explained.

Sheldon gave him a quizzical look, "Your mother's business?" Sheldon took a moment to think about his words.

"Wait, you mean your Ms. Knight's child?!"

Chiro nodded.

"Wait, now I remember. Rumors had it saying that she had a son with white hair, but no one believed that since white hair is too farfetched and weird."

Chiro frowned slightly.

"Oh, sorry. I just got a little excited there," Sheldon re-composed himself, "Well; it's nice to meet you, Mr. Knight. Sorry about the lack of business right now. Turf Wars don't start for another hour, so most Inklings are out just hanging with their friends or eating breakfast."

"Please, just call me Chiro. Another thing, what are Turf Wars? I've heard so much about them, but I have no idea what they are about."

Sheldon started laughing, receiving a raised brow from Chiro.

"That's a good joke, Chiro. The heir to the largest weapons manufacturer in the world knowing nothing about the reason why the weapons are used is just hilarious."

Chiro still stared at him. The silence eventually got to Sheldon as his laughing subsided.

"Wait, you're serious?!"

Chiro nodded.

"Oh, ink. How do you not know?!"

Chiro shrugged nonchalantly, "Simple. My mom sheltered me my entire life. I mean, I have I asked mom what they were used for, she just changed the subject. My mom is very protective of me, so I'm still wondering why she sent me here alone without coming with me."

"Simple, huh? Well, I'll just summarize Turf Wars for you. You see, Turf Wars are events where two teams of four Inklings compete to cover the most turf with their team's ink. These battles last only three minutes, and by the end of the three minutes, a cat named Judd determines the percentage of the turf covered by both the teams, and the team that has the highest percent of turf inked is victorious. Every Inkling obtains points for covering the map and receives a 300 point bonus if their team wins. In Turf Wars, Inklings utilize weapons from three main categories: Shooters, Chargers, or Rollers. Inklings use weapons from these classes paced upon Ink dispersion or whether it satisfies their preferences. From these, you have sub-weapons and special abilities. Each weapon had a predetermined sub-weapon and special ability, so you can't customize them. Ranked Battles focus more on cooperative play to achieve certain objectives. You don't ink the map like in Turf Wars; you either capture a certain area called a Splat Zone or take control of a moving tower in Tower Control. Lastly, everyone starts at rank C-, but all try to get to an A+ rank to be the best and make it into the Elite 10. Any questions?"

Chiro's eye twitched from the uninterrupted explanation, but he nodded despite all that.

"Yeah, sounds interesting enough, but I doubt I'll do them."

"Well, that's a shame. Still, I recommend you holster at least one weapon so you don't look too much out of place. Having white hair is one thing, but not carrying a Turf War weapon is just plain stupid in today's society." Sheldon proclaimed as he started scanning the walls for a weapon.

 _This guy is quite imposing. I guess there would be no point in saying no, even if I'm technically his boss._ Chiro thought.

"So, you said you've used some before. Do have anything in particular you want?" Sheldon asked.

"Hmmmm, for now, a Splattershot Jr. will do."

Sheldon quickly brought Chiro the requested weapon along with an Ink tank. Chiro looked at the ink tank with curiosity.

"Oh, this. You need it to fuel your weapon because your ink supply isn't unlimited."

"Oh, so I how do I fill it?"

"Well, you need to transform into your squid form and immerse yourself into your own ink. The tank will slowly fill up. You have to do this every time you expend all your ink or get low."

"Okay."

"However, since this is your first time, the tank might take some time to calibrate to your ink and start filling up, so you'll need to be a little patient." Sheldon added.

Chiro transformed into a white squid and slowly secreted white ink around him. He slowly sank into the pool of ink and waited for his new tank to fill up.

"Hey, Sheldon!" The hermit crab looked up to see two Inkling girls entering the store with the taller one waving at him.

"Ah, Carla, Vivi! Welcome back. Do you need something already? You two just bought the Carbon Roller yesterday." Sheldon greeted the two as he walked around the white puddle.

"No, Vivi here said she saw a boy walk in here that she insisted that I should see." Carla leaned down to whisper in Sheldon's ear, "Between us, I think she's lost her mind and is stalking a boy."

"I heard that!" Vivi screamed. "And I haven't lost my mind, okay! I swear I saw a boy with white hair walk in here."

"Yeah, yeah, Cuckoo." Carla noticed the white puddle behind Sheldon and grimaced at the shopkeeper.

"Sheldon…."

"Yeah?"

"Look, I know you're lonely and all, but could you refrain from doing something vulgar like what I imagine you just did in the store? I mean, at least clean up the evidence." Carla pointed to the white puddle.

"OH, no, no, no, no, no!" Sheldon frantically waved his arms and blushed like crazy.

"Sheldon….it's okay. I understand we all get the 'need' sometimes." Carla put a reassuring hand on the man's shoulder while smiling caringly.

"That's gross." Vivi commented with a blank stare.

"You're wrong…..just look."

Right on cue, Chiro emerged from the puddle into his humanoid form and the white ink quickly dissipated.

"Okay, Sheldon, I think I did it –"Chiro turned and noticed the two girls and Sheldon staring at him.

 _Aw, ink me. Girls!_ Chiro panicked in his mind. He checked the taller girl near Sheldon and noted the shock on her petite face. He then looked to the next girl…which he recognized instantly…..and so did she.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Both Chiro and Vivi screamed as they pointed to one another.

"IT'S YOU!" Chiro yelled in terror as be quickly backed away.

"Why are you scared, stupid white squid?!" Vivi stomped her way to the cowering boy and lifted him up by his jacket, almost choking the innocent boy.

"See, sis?! I told you this guy existed!" Vivi aggressively shook the poor boy with every word.

 _She's gonna kill me!_ Chiro strained in his mind as his arms fell limp to his sides.

"Holy squid…..he does have white hair." Carla was shocked.

Vivi returned her attention to the suffocating boy in her hands and growled.

"YOU! How dare you knock a girl to the floor and run off without saying you're sorry?!" Vivi was shaking him more viciously than before.

"You even have the squids to scream in my face! Where's my apology?!"

"Ugh, Vivi, can you stop doing that? I don't want my boss's son to suffocate in my shop." Sheldon pleaded.

Vivi stared at the small man and slowly released her grasp on the boy.

"Your boss's son?" Carla asked, regaining her sense of reality.

"Yeah, he's the son of the owner of Ammo Knights. His name's Chiro Knight." Sheldon explained.

Both girls stared in surprise at the boy trying to regain his breath.

"The son, huh?" Carla smirked to herself as she walked over to Chiro. Said boy looked up in slight fear at the sister of the girl that just tried to choke him to death.

"Ye….yes." Chiro nervously responded.

Suddenly, Carla reached out and started pinching the boy's cheeks.

"OWWW!" Chiro whined from the sudden pain and blushed from the close contact.

"Aww, you're so ADORABLE," Carla cood, "I can see why Vivi wanted to see you again."

Vivi growled, "That's not why at all! I just wanted you to see him yourself and get an apology."

"B-but I did say I was s-s-sorry." Chiro said through the pain.

"Running away while apologizing isn't an apology, you inker!"

"Don't be so mean to the little cutie, Vivi. I'm sure he didn't mean to do it." Carla said while now hugging the boy who was now on the verge of passing out.

"Don't defend him! You just met him. I'm your sister!"

Just then, a loud growl caught everyone's attention.

"Hm, that was a good growl, Vivi. I'm impressed." Carla complemented.

"That wasn't me."

"U-uh, that was m-me," Chiro said, "I haven't eaten breakfast yet."

Carla had a twinkle in her eye, "Oh? Well, Vivi and I were just eating breakfast at the café. You wanna eat with us?"

"WHAT?!" Vivi exclaimed.

Chiro frantically shook his head no.

"Of course you do. Alright, let's go back." Carla said triumphantly. She dragged Chiro behind her as she waved goodbye to Sheldon.

"Bye Sheldon!"

"Wait, I haven't paid for the shooter!" Chiro said while he tried to wriggle out of the girl's tight grip.

"Oh, don't worry about it, boss. It's on the house."

"Sheldon, help me!"

"Sorry, boss, can't do that." Sheldon smiled as he walked out of sight.

"Stop squirming. Besides, I want to get to know my future little brother-in-law." Carla still cooed.

"Would you stop that, sis?!" Both Vivi and Chiro lightly blushed at the statement.

* * *

 **Well, that's chapter 2. Hope you enjoyed and please review.**


	3. Getting Acquainted?

**Splatoon: Pure White**

 **Chapter 3: Getting acquainted?**

Utter discomfort and awkwardness couldn't describe the emotions Chiro was experiencing around the two girls in his company. Not only was being practically strangled by one leave a good impression of one of them, being dragged against his will by an extremely strong girl reaffirmed his phobia of girls in general.

Carla was contently enjoying her grilled fish, completely oblivious of Chiro's uncomfortable mood. Vivi remained silent and mindlessly poked at her omelet with her fork.

"Hey, Chiro…." Carla beckoned for the boy's attention.

Chiro slightly jumped from the abrupt break in the silence and hesitantly looked at the older girl.

"Y-yes?" Chiro nervously responded.

"Aren't you going to eat your omelet? It's going to get cold if you don't start eating."

"Mm." Chiro grunted with a nod and slowly sliced a small section. The trio were sitting in a round booth. Vivi and Carla were sitting relatively close to each other on one side while Chiro deliberately sat on the opposite end.

If it wasn't for the fact that he was famished, he would have fled for his life the instant they sat down. However, they, or rather Carla, offered to buy breakfast for him, so he refused to be rude and leave like that, too.

"So, what's up with the white hair, Chiro? It looks cool while at the same time mildly suggestive...sexually speaking." Carla….complimented?

Vivi sighed in exasperation from her older sister's immature remark while Chiro seem to not notice the implications behind what she said.

"Really, sis? Out of all things to ask, you had to say that?" Vivi said.

"Well, excuse me, but it is the most blatant question to ask right now. So, cutie, you mind answering the question?" Carla leaned on her left arm toward the boy.

Chiro lightly blushed at her calling him cute. He noticed the minute scowl on Vivi's face and focused on Carla for the time being.

"W-well, I-I…." Chiro began.

"Would you care to explain why you're stuttering? Every time you speak to us, you stutter. Is there a problem?" Vivi inquired with annoyance.

Carla placed her hand on her sister.

"Vivi, we went over this. Don't make such a scowl in front of boys; they find it very terrifying and un-endearing. Right, Chiro?" Carla reminded her with a smug look.

Chiro believed it to be unwise to respond, so he nonchalantly looked away while sipping down some juice.

"Would you just be quiet?! Why do you have to constantly bring something so trivial up every time we're in a conversation. I just asked him a simple question, jeez." Vivi exclaimed.

"Oh, don't be like that. I'm just being a good older sister and passing on my wisdom to my loving sibling." Carla muttered as she playfully poked Vivi's cheek, earning a frown in response.

"What a wonderful relationship these two have." Chiro whispered to himself while he preoccupied himself with poking at his food. Unbeknownst to the boy, Vivi heard the comment, but decided to dismiss it and shoved her sister away.

"Anyway, are you going to answer my sister's question? And my question for that matter as well?" Vivi asked.

Chiro sighed.

 _Evidently, this girl's going to being very difficult to come to terms with. Why must most girls be so hostile to boys that have done no wrong doing?_ Chiro pondered this while staring at Vivi.

"Well, I was born with this hair color. All the doctors my mother consulted when I was a small squid couldn't explain it, so we just treat is as a phenomena." Chiro calmly explained while suppressing his habit of stuttering around them.

"Yeah, it's strange alright." Vivi coldly remarked.

Chiro's eye twitched in minor aggravation, "Are you still upset about our incident yesterday?"

"Well, of course I am. It would be unusual for someone to forgive a person knocking them down without sincerely apologizing."

Chiro exchanged a curious look with her.

"What?" Vivi asked.

"Well, when I got off of you, I distinctly remember a look of sadness on your face when I did, so I thought a major apology was unwarranted." Chiro teased.

"HUH?!"

Carla couldn't resist bursting into hysterical laughter and laid on her side from losing her balance.

"Don't go assuming things like that! I wouldn't dare enjoy being pinned to the floor by a random buy a don't know!" Vivi retorted while frantically waving her arms.

Her glare shifted toward her sister, "And you…..at least have some self-control. Squids, I can't comprehend how someone like you is even in the Elite 10!"

Chiro froze from that statement.

 _Elite 10? The acclaimed best Turf War players in Inkopolis?_ Chiro questioned to himself.

"Just a moment. Carla, you're one of the Elite 10?"

Carla managed to restrain her laughing fit and smiled.

"Yep, Elite 10, Number 6 in your presence." Carla proudly proclaimed while pointing her thumb at herself.

"You're the sixth best player in Inkopolis?"

Vivi sympathized with Chiro, "I understand your confusion. It's hard to imagine this nut-of-a-sister as a spectacular Turf War player."

Carla whined, "Why can't you have any respect for me for being in the top ten? "

"Simple. You're not the kind of person that commands respect with your presence." Vivi took another bite of her omelet.

Chiro couldn't help but stifle a chuckle while Carla looked as if she was on the verge of tears.

"You're so mean. I show you nothing but love and affection –and some slight teasing- and this is how you repay my kindness? At least try to refrain from acting so uncouth in front of Chiro."

"Whatever."

"Wait, does that mean you're in the Elite 10 as well, Vivi?" Chiro asked.

Vivi stabbed her food, causing Chiro to jump in his seat, while giving deceiving smile.

"Unfortunately, Chiro, I'm not. That's partially why it devastates me that my eccentric, older sister got in than me." A light grumbling tone could be discerned in her voice.

Chiro nervously laughed, realizing he treaded into dangerous territory within the girl's feelings.

"A-ah, sorry. I didn't intend to upset you."

Vivi sighed, "It's fine."

Vivi looked depressingly down at her food. The lingering feeling of regret was getting unbearable for Chiro. Seeing the girl upset didn't bode well for him.

Chiro suddenly got an idea and excused himself from the table to walk to the counter. Carla nudged closer to Vivi.

"Hey, cheer up, would you? I honestly thought you got past this."

"I thought so as well. I guess saying I'm still bitter about the matter would be an understatement, huh?"

Carla rubbed her sister's back to try and comfort her and settle her nerves.

"Look, I'm a positive you'll make it in. You're skills are drastically improving each day, so you'll make it in no time at all."

"Please, don't flatter me, sis."

"Oh, so I shouldn't praise my baby sister?" Carla crossed her arms with a smile.

Vivi couldn't help but smile, "No…no, it feels nice."

Chiro suddenly returned and placed something down on the table in front of Vivi with a clang. Vivi and Carla jumped in surprise.

"Hey, don't do tha-" Vivi noticed the large bowl of chocolate ice cream topped with whipped cream Chiro had just set down and gave him a questioning look.

"W-what? Chocolate ice cream is said to help alleviate stress and depression. Look, I truly am sorry for what happened the other day, and to atone for that, I bought your breakfast along with Carla's, too. Are we okay now, Vivi?" Chiro rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Vivi gave small smile.

 _Hmm, this seems a little much for an apology. I mean, I would of asked for something regardless, but nothing expensive like buying breakfast and dessert._ Vivi thought.

"Thanks, Chiro. I suppose I can forgive you….for now." Vivi lightly poked him on the nose while she humbly started eating the frozen concoction.

Chiro lightly blushed from the adorable faces she was making by just indulging on the treat. He was relieved that he was pardoned for his mistake and was ready to leave since he finished his food.

But things don't always go accordingly to what you want.

Carla reached over and grabbed the small boy and almost put him in a choke hold.

"Now wait just a minute, young man. Did I not say _WE_ were buying _YOU_ breakfast?" Carla snarled a bit at the boy squirming under her hold.

"Y-y-yeah, b-but I d-don't like it when p-people buy stuff for me!" Chiro's stuttering re-emerged from the close contact with Carla's body.

"That doesn't matter. I said we'd buy you food, and I mean what I say." Carla commenced pinching his cheeks…hard.

"She really does. One time she threatened to destroy my Aerospray if I didn't give her a cookie…and the maniac destroyed not only that, but my Kraken Roller, too." Vivi calmly added while taking another bite of ice cream.

"Help, please….Vivi. This hurts." Chiro practically begged the girl.

Vivi thought to herself for a split moment.

"Hmmmm, nah. This is entertaining."

"B-but, I bought you ice cream!"

"And, it's delicious." Vivi squealed while ignoring the cries of utter pain coming from the poor boy.

"Uncle Joe, can we have an order of Octorings, please!" Carla yelled to the man in the kitchen which nodded in affirmation.

"You're still buying me food?! I said no. Old man, I want some chili, too, for the Carla and Vivi!" Chiro requested in defiance.

Carla narrowed her eyes at the White haired Inkling, and Chiro scowled at her as well.

"Let me buy my little brother breakfast!"

"I'm not your little brother!"

"But you might be! Right, Vivi?!"

Vivi started choking on her ice cream while the two continued to glare at each other.

"Uncle, chocolate cake, please."

"Make some pancakes for her, too!"

"SCRAMBLED EGGS!"

"HASHBROWNS!"

"OCTO PIE!"

"EGG BENEDICT!"

This exchange continued on for quite some time, and Uncle Joe complied with each request for more food. During the little alternation of orders, Vivi was pounding her chest and coughing from almost choking on ice cream.

* * *

"Okay…..not one of better ideas." Carla groaned as she was clutching her bulging stomach.

Chiro and Carla had ordered a substantial amount of food. It was to the point that the empty dishes created a towering stack in the middle of the table. Chiro was on his side, hunched over in agonizing pain from eating too much.

"I think I'm dying….." Chiro groaned. His stomach bulge was twice the size of Carla's. During their ordering, he resigned to allowing Carla order more food so they settle the matter before it got too out of hand.

He is glad that he did; he barely managed to eat the last bite of pie before he could no longer lift her arms.

Vivi giggled at the sight of the her sister and Chiro.

"Vivi….why didn't you eat anything?" Carla mustered the strength she had left to ask that.

"I'm on a diet." Vivi snickered.

"Well, if you want to get Chiro's attention, I can understand why you didn't eat." Carla lost conciseness after saying that, as well as Chiro.

Vivi blushed a deep shade of red and grumbled to herself about how she deserved the food coma.

Off in the corner of the restaurant, Uncle Joe was happily counting his profits from his beloved nieces and their friend.

"Oh, they're unconscious. Let me count my money first before helping." Uncle Joe said to himself.

* * *

 **Sorry that this chapter isn't as long or eventful as the first two. I'm suffering from some writer's block. Please review.**


	4. First Turf War

**Splatoon: Pure White**

 **Chapter 4: First Turf War**

Our three Inklings slowly trudged out the café. Carla and Chiro regained consciousness after approximately two hours after passing out from the severe food coma they suffered. Carla required Vivi to help support her as she was walking out. Carla wrapped her arm around her sister's shoulders while Vivi had her arms around her sister's waist.

"I…..I don't feel well at all." Carla gagged, instantly clasping her hand on her mouth.

"That's to be expected. You two just consumed a meal that would probably feed a family of ten squids." Vivi tentatively rubbed Carla's back to try and help ease her nausea.

"Please…..don't remind me, Vivi." Carla pleaded. The color in her eyes was slowly recovering, and Carla commenced taking slow, deep breathes to help expedite the process.

"Chiro…how are you holding up?" Vivi directed her attention to the boy to her left, who seemed to be completely fine compared to Carla.

Chiro was staring absent-mindedly at his sandals before she caught his attention.

"I'm doing fine, actually. Fortunately, the short nap and my high metabolism helped me digest all the food, and I feel completely refreshed." Chiro said with gleeful grin.

Vivi had to admit, she found his grin to be cute and hypnotic in certain respects, and she couldn't help but smile at him in response.

However, Carla wasn't particularly fond of his response, "Oh, well lucky you, Chiro! Maybe if you weren't so preoccupied with being a carefree dingus, you could help Vivi with carrying me to the nearest bench!" Carla glared at the now frightened boy.

Chiro and Vivi were astonished by the sudden change in the previously kind and boisterous girl's behavior. Despite living with the girl, Vivi normally never witnessed her sister act in such a rude and hostile manner to anyone, and Chiro's slight phobia of girls was evoked.

"S-s-sorry." Chiro stumbled around to Carla's right side and supported her like Vivi.

Eventually, the trio found a vacant bench and the two young Inklings carefully released their grasp around the sixteen-year-old to let her sit.

Carla heaved a heavy sigh of relief.

"FINALLY, I CAN REST!" Carla contently lay down on the bench.

"Now, sis, it's rude to take up the whole bench without even being considerate of your little sister and her friend." Vivi reprimanded Carla while waving her index finger and smirking.

"Squid it, Vivi. After the pain I just suffered because of Chiro, being considerate is the last thing on my mind." Carla frowned.

Chiro gave her a quizzical look, "Because of me? You were the one that instigated the whole ordeal. You couldn't just let me buy you food?"

Carla glowered at the boy. The scowl on her face made Chiro quiver in slight fear.

"Look, I love how you bought ice cream for Vivi to make her happy, but I specifically said I would by you food, so my predicament is entirely your fault. No objections!"

Chiro slumped down a little. He really had no motivation to continue arguing with the girl, so resigned to being 'wrong'.

"Alright…..I'm sorry, Carla."

Carla groaned in response and a long silence filled the air around them.

Chiro felt as if his time with the two was done and looked at his squid watch to check the time. "Well, I appreciate your company during breakfast, but I'm going to go back home. I hope I see you two some other time, so…..see you later." Chiro waved goodbye as he started walking away from the girls, but Carla somehow completely recuperated and grabbed his hoodie; preventing his attempt to leave.

"I don't think so, young man," Carla said sternly, "Because of you, I may have gained a weight from all that food and spent a lot of money on just breakfast, and you honestly believe you can just leave without giving compensation?!"

Chiro made the mistake of nodding in response, which prompted Carla to put the poor boy into a Camel Clutch hold –this is a wrestling hold.

Carla smiled innocently, "I'm sorry, would it be possible for you to repeat that gesture? I didn't quite catch what you meant."

Vivi decided to not intervene and consulted her Squid phone to listen to her downloaded music as her sister physically tortured the terrified boy. She put her ear buds in and scrolled through the thousands of songs she downloaded from Squid tunes.

 _Sorry, Chiro. I rather not be her next victim._ Vivi thought as she glanced at the poor boy. Vivi had to admit, Carla does receive much more respect when she becomes upset and dominative. Fortunately for her, it seldom happens and she wasn't on the receiving end this time.

"AHHHH, I DIDN'T MEAN ANYTHING BY IT. OF COURSE, I'LL DO SOMETHING IN RETURN!" Chiro strained those words out.

Feeling appeased with his answer, Carla ceased her hold on the boy and patted him on the head for saying the right thing.

While still writhing on the ground in pain, Chiro mustered up the energy to ask, "So, what do you want me to do to repay you?"

Carla cupped her cheek in her hand as she contemplated the question. However, she didn't take long to think about it at all.

"You'll be spending the entire day with us. In addition to that, you'll be providing services, such as carrying our bags when we go shopping and buying lunch." Carla nodded to her own conditions.

Chiro's eye twitched in shock from the selfish demands, but he chose to not oppose her at the risk of suffering from another wrestling move.

"There's no issue with those terms, right?"

Chiro shook his head.

"That's a good little brother," Carla patted him on the head, "Now, Vivi, you have no problems with spending today with me and your boyfriend, right?"

Vivi dropped her phone in embarrassment, and it bounced behind her.

"H-h-he's n-not my b-b-b-boyfriend!" Carla had to stifle her laughter from her sister's flustered reaction.

"But you have no problems, correct?" Carla repeated.

Vivi crossed her arms behind her back and kicked at an imaginary pebble while looking away so Chiro couldn't see her faint blush.

"No, I'm fine with it. Besides, if I said I didn't want him around, you would still drag him with us anyway." Vivi muttered in an almost inaudible tone.

"That's good. Now, let's go to Arowana Mall before it's selected for Turf Wars." Carla decided on her own without the input of her sister.

Vivi nodded in response. She turned around and bent down to pick up her Squid phone, leaving her rear up towards the other two. By sheer coincidence, Chiro lifted himself up at the same time, turned his head, and had, described by him, a good view of her butt.

Chiro believed he was in an endless trance as he shamefully stared at her rear. A deep shade of red graced his face.

 _I think I just inked a little in my shorts._ Chiro thought to himself.

Eventually, he realized the indecent thing he was doing and looked away instantaneously as soon as Vivi turned around.

"Alright, shall we go?" Vivi asked but turned her attention to Chiro, "Hey, Chiro, are you okay? Your face is red." Vivi placed a concerned hand on the flustered boy.

He just nodded.

"Okay." Vivi reassuringly patted his back and walked ahead of the two. Carla followed suit, but not before slyly smirking at Chiro.

"Hey, if you want to stare at her butt, I suggest you be more discreet about it next time." Carla slyly whispered in the boy's ear and ran to catch up to her sister.

Chiro shrugged his shoulders and lowered his head in embarrassment. "Is she being supportive or protective?" Chiro questioned himself. He pushed the notion to the back of his consciousness and ran up to the two girls.

* * *

Chiro's afternoon events were rather exhausting. Carla wasn't being facetious or overdramatic when she said she demanded that he carry their belongings. He acknowledged immediately that Carla was the type to purchase anything that caught her attention in the stores at the mall. She purchased countless amounts of shoes and jackets. Chiro's arms were on the verge of falling off from the weight of all the bags he was carrying. It was so severe that he forced himself to carry some of the bags by his teeth.

Chiro was grateful to Vivi for not being the shopping type like Carla. He only recalls Vivi purchasing a single dress. For the rest of the time, she just walked beside him and occasionally snickering at his pained expressions from carrying all the weight of the bags.

Vivi had offered to carry some bags, but Carla advised Chiro that it was ungentlemanly to have a girl carry heavy objects for him, and that if she did; Chiro wouldn't be fulfilling his promise of paying her back and would have to do it again.

Fortunately, the mall soon closed due to the Turf War maps transitioning into including Arowana Mall and Kelp Dome, and they rested at a bench near the base of Inkopolis Tower.

Chiro released his grip on the bags and collapsed from his exhaustion.

"I guess we can take a break," Carla said, "Good job, Chiro. Well get some lunch later"

Chiro mustered a raspy chuckle and smiled. Chiro really couldn't convince himself to complain to the older girl, especially since she privately agreed to not tell Vivi about his perverted behavior earlier in the morning.

Chiro blushed from the memory of his view of Vivi's butt...those amazing curves...cheeks that looked...he quickly shook the thought out of his head and checked his wallet to see if he had enough money to even buy the two of them lunch.

"Hey, sis, look. They're projecting the Turf Wars on the giant monitor." Vivi gestured to the giant screen above the Squid Sister's studio. Carla and Chiro followed her gaze and viewed the battle that just started in Kelp Dome.

"Based on what I see, Blue Team appears to be the superior team. They'll win for sure." Carla commented.

Vivi shook her head in disagreement.

"No, I think Orange Team will be victorious."

Carla narrowed her eyes, but turned to the boy lying down on the clean street, "What do you think, Chiro?"

The boy in question supported his head with his arms and raised it to her. "I don't know…Orange Team maybe."

Vivi smiled for receiving support from the boy.

"Suck up." Carla uttered in a snide tone.

After the typical three minutes, Blue Team emerged victorious by a blatant one-sided match.

"Ugh, come on, those guys on Blue Team were all using the Kraken Roller. That's cheap." Vivi complained.

"Hey, I use that weapon." Carla whined.

"I rest my case."

"Well, I'm Number 6, so…." Carla blew raspberry at Vivi, and Vivi reciprocated.

After three consecutive minutes of the immature behavior, the two gasped for breath.

"Ah, man, I feel like playing a Turf War right now." Vivi grumbled.

"Well, go ahead. I'll watch our stuff." Carla offered. Vivi beamed and embraced her sister.

"Thanks, sis! Hey, Chiro, you want to play with me?" Vivi asked.

Chiro slowly stood up and brushed the dust off of his hoodie.

"Not really. I don't see the point of playing in one." Chiro nonchalantly stated. Both the girls stared at him incredulously.

"Don't see the point?! Turf Wars are incredibly entertaining. Why don't you want to play one?" Carla inquired with shock.

"Well, my opinion may be unjustified and biased since I've never played in one before." Chiro scratched the back of his head.

Saying the girls were shocked is an understatement. They exchanged worried looks between each other. After a moment, Vivi nodded as if she agreed to request Carla made telepathically and ran off to the lobby for Tur Wars.

"Okay…..Viv's going to reserve a slot for you two for the next Turf War battle, so hurry and get their before the other Inklings get impatient." Carla rapidly said while pushing him toward the tower.

"Wait, aren't you going to be playing with us?"

"I said I would watch our stuff. Besides, it would be unfair for the other team if I participated, and you need to acquire experience without an Elite like myself making it too easy for you. Now, go!"

Chiro complied with a confused expression and caught up to Vivi in the lobby. There, Vivi was waiting with another girl and a boy. She waved over to Chiro to come over to them.

"Hey, Chiro, I managed to find two other players that want to team up." Vivi gestured to the two behind her.

"Hi, my name is Mika. Wow, you do have white hair! From what Vivi told us, you're a newbie like me, so I look forward to playing with you." The girl named Mika bowed respectfully. Mika had orange hair and yellow eyes. Aside from the typical shorts, she wore a school girl top and shoes, and she wore a beanie. She also had a Splattershot Jr. hanging on her side.

"I'm Kori. Unlike you, I'm level 20, so I can help you out in the battle whenever you need it." Kori extended his hand out to Chiro, which he gladly shook. He appeared to be the same age as Carla from what he can assume. Kori has yellow hair and yellow eyes. He wore white glasses, a Red-Check shirt, and Ltd edition Low-Tops on his feet. He had a charger over his shoulder.

"T-thanks. I appreciate the help." Chiro responded.

Vivi walked over to Chiro.

"Hey, pull out your Splattershot Jr. You need to start preparing for the match."

Chiro did as he was advised and pulled out the weapon he got from Sheldon for free. He examined the weapon oddly and wondered what he was supposed to do. Vivi chuckled at his cluelessness.

"Here, you need to connect your weapon to your ink tank using this tube. You can connect it to either the left or right nozzle, depending on dominant hand, but all Inkling use the right one since the left one is used just in case the right one gets clogged."

"I'm ambidextrous." Chiro said. Vivi nodded and just connected the tube to the right nozzle.

"Okay, you're all set. Now, be careful with the trigger; it's very sensit-" Chiro accidentally applied pressure to the trigger and sprayed a small amount of white ink over Vivi's hoodie and parts of her face.

Vivi glared at Chiro.

"Ehehehe, sorry about that, Vivi." Chiro apologized while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. Vivi sighed and merely wiped off the ink.

"Whatever. It's fine."

Kori and Maka couldn't help but smirk at the unusual exchange.

Maka covered her mouth and whispered, "How lewd."

Kori snapped his fingers as soon as he remembered something.

"That's right, let's check the stats of our opponents." Kori pulled up a digital stat chart from his watch.

"Okay, it appears that all of them are level 20's and have at least a B- rank. Based on this, they clearly outclass you two. So, Vivi here and I will have to work a little harder to compensate for that." Kori stared at Chiro and Maka.

Maka was already starting to shake from apprehension. "T-that's unfair. This is my first match, and the teams are already so unbalanced."

Chiro seemed uninterested while Kori lightly laughed to himself.

"We'll be fine. Anyway, Vivi, what are your stats and what weapon will you be using?" Kori asked.

"I'm level 20 and maintain a B ranking. Because of Chiro, I'll be using a custom Splattershot Jr so he can see how to effectively use this gun. What about you?"

"Me? I'm…," A bell sound interrupted him, "It's time to start. You guys ready?"

All three of them nodded. The team walked their way to the start pad and transformed into their squid forms. In a flash, all the Inklings participating in the match were transported to Kelp Dome.

* * *

Chiro spawned on the home base for his team and could clearly see the base of the opposing team. He recognized the four Inklings as the team he saw won the previous game he watched on the large screen. The team all had Kraken Rollers, and he could see that they all had smug smiles.

"What's with them?" Chiro asked as turned to his team, only to see Kori.

"Where are Vivi and Maka?"

Kori groaned in frustration, "They most likely got disconnected from the match. Recently, Turf Wars have been experiencing a lot of communication errors and sending some players back to the main lobby. Unfortunately, those two were victim to the errors."

Chiro glanced back down to the base and saw that Vivi's Custom Splattershot was laying there.

"It's rare for the person's weapon to be here instead of its owner," Kori commented, "But we need to focus. It's a two-on-four match. Hey, this will make a great memory for your first Turf War, right?"

Chiro stared unamusingly at Kori.

Kori nervously chuckled, "Don't worry, just cover the turf with your ink, and I'll provide overhead support. My charger allows me to shoot ink from a long distance, so I can cover you if you need help. Also, since you have a Splattershot Jr, use your shield whenever you're in a tight situation. You'll need it against those rollers."

Chiro nodded. The timer commenced counting down, and Chiro took a few short breaths as it did.

3….2….1….GO!

* * *

Vivi stomped her way back over to her sister.

"I can't believe I was disconnected! Not only that, I dropped my Splattershot there, too!"

Carla listened as her sister went on a rant while carefully watching Chiro's match on the screen. Vivi eventually calmed down and watched as well.

Then, Vivi suddenly realized something.

"Hey, why are they showing Chiro's match? Shouldn't they be announcing the information about the new weapons being added to Ammo Knights?" Vivi asked her sister.

"Well, I called in a favor from Number 2 to show his match, and she quickly obliged." Carla explained.

"N-Number 2! Well, I guess I can see why she did; she is one of your best friends after all."

Carla smiled and focused on the battle. Other Inklings in the plaza were curiously watched the match as well since it was unusual for a Turf War to be broadcasted on the screen. Some were already speaking ill of Chiro and Kori.

"Those two don't have a chance. They're going up against four rollers." An Inkling boy said to his friends.

"I feel almost sorry for those two." An Inkling girl added.

The insults kept escalating, and Carla and Vivi restrained themselves from getting violent to shut them up.

* * *

A minute into the match and Chiro was doing well for a beginner. He had already covered a lot of turf and accumulated 400 points, but he hadn't seen the enemy team yet since the match started. He looked over to the catwalk and saw Kori happily firing his Charger.

After another ten seconds. Chiro was near the enemy base when Kori yelled to him, "Chiro, behind you!"

Chiro quickly turned around, only to be splatted by two rollers. He quickly spawned at the base and wasted no time going back to ink more of the enemy turf. However, he kept getting splatted by the rollers. Again. Again. Again. Again. And again. He kept getting splatted and was starting to get annoyed.

"AHHH, this stupid thing isn't strong enough to take them down. I barley manage to splat one, but by then, I get splatted by another two." Chiro vented his frustration and threw his gun down on the base. He noticed that Vivi's Splattershot was still there and remembered what Vivi told him:

" _You can connect your weapon to either the left or the right nozzle, but all Inklings use the right one since the left one is used if the right one gets clogged up."_

Chiro gasped in realization. He grasped her Splattershot and connected it to the left nozzle of his ink tank.

Kori splatted one Inkling and looked back towards the base since he hasn't seen Chiro move from it in a while.

"What's he doing over there?" Kori calmly asked himself. Utter shock came over him when he realized that he was wielding two Splattershots in his hands.

 _Dual-wielding?! You can do that?!_

Chiro smirked to himself as he recklessly charged into the battle once more. This time, he was able to splat both enemies that came after him and doubled his inking efficiency. He couldn't be splatted by any of the enemy members that charged at him, and Kori took care of enemies that attempted a sneak attack.

The match soon ended. Judd came out and revealed that Chiro and Kori covered 91% of the map while the other team only covered 8.5% by the end of the game. The enemy team started complaining and some of the girls started crying.

Kori triumphantly walked over to Chiro and patted him on the back, "Great work out there! I didn't know you could use two weapons at the same time."

"Thanks, Kori. I'm glad you were watching my back." Chiro smiled.

"Hey, no problem. You're really good for a beginner. Was Vivi lying when she said you were a beginner, too?"

"No, this was my first match."

"Wow. Hey, let's grab a bite to eat after this. My treat." Kori offered. Chiro cringed as he remembered his incident with Carla on the subject of buying food for each other.

The scoreboard for the game appeared showing how well each player did. Each player on the enemy team only managed to get 400 points each and died a lot.

Chiro earned 1500 points with the bonus and got 13 splats and 8 deaths. However, what shocked Chiro the most was Kori's score. He got 2100 points with 25 splats and 0 deaths.

"What the…" Chiro murmured to himself.

One boy from the other team walked over to Chiro and Kori and pointed an accusing finger at them.

"You two cheated! There's no way that the two of you beat the four of us without resorting to cheating. I mean, look and Whitey over here. You can't use two weapons. That's unfair!" The boy screamed. His teammates soon gathered behind him and started spitting out the same thing.

Kori moved in front of Chiro. "There's no rule prohibiting the use of two weapons of the same type in battle. You four lost fairly. Accept the defeat like a true player and move on." Kori chastised the Inklings.

They all glared at the yellow haired boy.

"You cheated too. There's no way you can do that well with a charger!" One girl screamed.

"Actually, you're wrong about that, little missy. It's easy to outperform any player with a Charger if you know how to use it correctly." Kori responded, his voice much lower and intimidating.

He turned his attention to Chiro. "Chiro, I never properly introduced myself to you, and you four should listen as well."

Chiro eyed him curiously.

"My name is Kori Cooler….member of the Elite 10, Number 5."

* * *

 **Please Review.**


	5. Elite 10

**Splatoon: Pure White**

 **Chapter 5: Elite 10**

In retrospect, Chiro found the concept of Turf Wars to actually be fun despite having his team being reduced by half for his first game. Regardless of his bias perspective of believing Turf Wars were pointless before, he completely eliminated the idea once he actually played one. His team was down by two; many would consider that to be an unfortunate event and spell an inevitable defeat; however, Chiro was blessed with an outstanding teammate.

To his surprise, he was playing with the fifth best Turf War player in all of Inkopolis: Kori Cooler.

After revealing who he was after the match in Kelp Dome, the other team that accused him and Chiro of cheating apologized profusely and actually congratulated Chiro for his first victory. Chiro and Kori slowly exited the main lobby after being teleported back.

The two boys approached Judd, who was resting comfortably on his plush pillow. Judd gave both of them the corresponding amount of money they earned for the points they earned in the match. Kori nodded at the cat while Chiro bowed in thanks and petted the cat.

"Well, that was a fantastic match. I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting much from you since you're a beginner, but I was impressed by your ability to dual-wield Splattershots." Kori praised Chiro while his arm was wrapped casually around the white-haired boy.

"Um…..thanks, K-Kori." Chiro stuttered out to the boy. In his perception, Chiro found the sixteen-year-old boy to be significantly more intimidating after he learned of his affiliation to the Elite 10.

Kori slightly narrowed his eyes; his expression shifting from a look of joy to concern. "Hey, there's no need to be so tense."

"Well…it's just I'm not sure how to interact with you. I mean, you're the second person from the Elite 10 that I've met today. The first one was more…..aggressive and basically set how I act with her without really asking for my input." Chiro muttered as he scratched his cheek with his finger.

"Oh…you already met another? Which one did you meet?"

"She's Number 6. Her name's Carla." Chiro answered.

Kori tilted his head up in interest. "Ohhhh, her. Yeah, she joined exactly four months ago. I never had the pleasure of meeting her yet, but Number 4 says she's an interesting….."

"Yeah," Chiro fully agreed, "She's a definite keeper for a friend."

"…and a very pretty girl." Kori grinned absent-mindedly, as if he was in his own fantasy world.

Chiro nodded politely while kindly refraining from interrupting the older boy's thoughts.

"Is she pretty?" Kori inquired suddenly.

"That's a rather abrupt question," Chiro responded, "But I admit, she is quite attractive. However, she can be rather…..whimsical."

Kori smiled. "I prefer a girl that's unique in her own regard."

Chiro nervously chuckled," Then, you're definitely going to enjoy her company."

Chiro led Kori to the bench where Vivi and Carla were patiently waiting for him. Vivi waved to him as soon as he was in her peripheral vision. Chiro happily returned the wave and had a cheerful smile.

"Wow, Chiro that was exceptional. Be glad that I dropped my Custom Splattershot for your use to make that comeback." Vivi poked Chiro's chest with a slight grin.

Chiro tensed at the sudden contact, but he reached behind him and presented the girl her respective weapon. Chiro rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, thanks. If it wasn't for this and Kori here, I wouldn't have done so well." Chiro remarked as he gestured to the boy behind him. Said boy awkwardly waved at the two girls. Vivi and Carla returned the greeting, but Carla instantly stood up and walked her way in front of the yellow haired boy.

"So….you're Number 5, huh?" Carla crossed her arms and gave an annoyed look to the boy.

Kori felt uncomfortable under her gaze and diverted his attention to Chiro, nonverbally pleading for some help even though he just met her. However, the message behind his look eluded Chiro as he was talking excitedly with Vivi about his match, which the girl simply nodded and smiled in intermittently.

"Y-yeah. I take it that you're C-Carla….Number 6, right?" Kori took a slow step backwards because of some slight, inexplicit fear.

"Yes. This is our first meeting after all. We could have met last night, or the week before, or the week before that…..but you seem to be absent for a majority of our meetings/parties."

"Uhh…..there's a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why I don't attend the meetings."

"And what is your explanation?"

"I just don't feel like attending the meetings."

Carla narrowed her eyes.

"You didn't feel…like going to any of the meetings, huh?"

"Indeed."

Carla lunged towards the boy after his simplistic response and put him in the same wrestling hold she put Chiro through earlier in the day.

"AHHHHHH, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Kori shrieked in absolute pain from the hold.

Carla glared at the boy, "Do you have any idea how many times Number 1 has chewed me out for not keeping you in check?! You know very well that members are divided into pairs and are responsible for each other?! That includes ensuring that they attend the _mandatory_ meetings!"

Her harassing of her "colleague" attracted the attention of other Inklings striding by and prompted them to mutter amongst themselves.

"That girl's terrifying." A green haired boy said.

The pink haired girl he was speaking to nodded in agreement. "Definitely."

"A lover's quarrel, perhaps?" A green haired girl added.

"Wait, isn't she Carla? Number 6 of the Elite 10?" the pink haired girl questioned.

"Now that you mention it, I think she is, and is the boy she's tormenting Number 5?" Another girl pointed to the dramatic yellow haired boy crying in pain.

The crowd's murmurs began intensifying around our four characters, but Carla seemed to ignore them. Kori started repeatedly tapping the ground with his hand.

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! I'M SORRY FOR INCONVENIENCING YOU!." Kori mustered to scream while tapping out.

"Hmph." Carla scoffed as she removed herself from Kori.

Kori groaned in anguish as he slowly got up from the ground. "What was that?! You meet me for the first time and assault me?! Who in the squid world does that?"

Chiro whined as he slowly raised his hand to get Kori's attention, "Evidentially, she does. She aggressively dragged me against my will to eat breakfast and did what she did to you to me earlier today."

Chiro shuddered as he vividly recalled the pain he endured. His lower back ached at the mere thought of what happened.

"Wow…..you were right when you stated that she was 'interesting'." Kori remarked painfully as he rubbed his shoulder to alleviate the pain.

"What? Chiro, are you speaking negatively about me behind my back? You're supposed to be my good, little brother." Carla uttered in an innocent tone and making puppy dog eyes, but her placing her arms on her hips contradicted the way she said it. She appeared as if she was prepared to assault him again if he gave her the answer she didn't desire.

Chiro cowered behind Vivi for safety's sake and stuttered a timid "no". Carla stared at Chiro incredulously and was on the verge of trying to prod the truth from him before the sound of familiar melody interrupted her. Chiro, Carla, and Vivi turned their attention to Kori, who was pulling out his Squid phone and accepting the call he was receiving. His ringtone was the Squid Sister's theme.

"Hello?" Kori answered.

"Hey, it's me." The caller responded on the other end of the connection. Kori had his phone on speaker, so everyone else could easily hear the caller. The person's voice was very feminine, which would lead Chiro to infer that the person was a girl.

"Oh…..hey. It's rare for you to contact me. Did something occur?"

"Yeah, we need to have a meeting tonight."

"Another one? Didn't you guys have one the previous night?"

"Yes. The ones that attended did have a meeting?" The girl said emphatically while sounding as if she was scolding Kori.

"Hehehe….sorry? Anyway, what's the reason for this meeting?"

"Unfortunately, all current members of the Elite 10 must deliberate in inducting more members to our group."

Carla and Kori furrowed their brows in bewilderment from the statement. Vivi was just as astonished while Chiro looked at the three questioningly.

"What?! We already have ten members. What happened?" Kori asked in surprise.

"I excommunicated Number 10 and Number 9 from their positions. I believed that their skills were inadequate, and they were undeserving of the elite status." The girl calmly replied.

"You did something like that without confirming it with us?"

"I discussed it with Number 2, Number 3, Number 4, and Number 7. They unanimously agreed with my decision."

Kori sighed in frustration. According to the rules established by the current Elite 10's predecessors, the process of evicting members must be agreed upon by a minimum of five members, and members considered for removal must be informed in advance for it.

"How did they take it?" Kori asked with genuine concern.

"*sigh* They both cried profusely, but they did understand my perspective on the issue. They acknowledged their faults when partaking in Turf Wars and agreed to their removal. However, they said that they'll try to improve and possibly get back in eventually." She chuckled.

Carla, Vivi, and Chiro remained silent and listened intently at the girl's words.

 _She sounds…..familiar. Where have I heard her voice before?_ Chiro pondered this question to himself.

She continued, "Now, we need to quickly fill those positions, so later we need to determine who each of us see fit to be amongst our ranks."

Kori nodded. "Right. Where are we meeting tonight?"

"The usual place we meet is going to be reserved for a wedding reception, so I'm not sure. Carla's parents are very kind, but they refuse to allow us to meet at her place. My home is off limits. Number 2, Number 3, and Number 4 all live together and don't want us to potentially leave their apartment in shambles if we go there. I don't want to go to your place….."

Kori deadpanned after that blunt statement.

"…..and Number 7 and Number 8 have the same reasoning as me. Also, I don't want to go somewhere public for a meeting such as this one."

Kori pinched his temples in slight annoyance. "Well, we need to figure it out soon. It may be early in the afternoon, but Turf Wars are about to conclude early for the day at 3:00 pm because of maintenance to the teleportation program and minimizing communication errors, so our options of places to go are limited."

Kori was correct. After Turf Wars end every day, many Inklings usually loiter around the plaza, indulge in a meal at some of the surrounding restaurants, or walk around the streets of Inkopolis before going home.

Chiro sensed Kori's anxiety and spoke, "Hey, you guys can come over to my place. I just moved in and it's big enough to accommodate a lot of people."

Kori quickly turned to the white-haired boy in surprise.

"Are you sure? These types of meetings last quite some time, usually two hours, and I don't want to impose." Kori tentatively replied.

Chiro shook his head and smiled. "I don't mind. Besides, one way or another, Carla's eventually going to figure out where I live, by force most likely, so it's better for my sake that she and you guys see it now."

Vivi chuckled at Chiro's claim, causing the boy to lightly blush.

"What do you mean 'by force'?" Carla asked in an offended tone. Chiro stared off in another direction to avoid her gaze and received a pout from the older girl.

"Who was that?" The person on the phone asked.

"Oh, that was my friend. I just met him today. He's a newbie in Turf Wars, but his skills are commendable. He can dual-wield weapons."

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah, surprised me as well. Anyway, he offered to let us use his place for the meeting."

"Okay…..where is his home exactly?"

Kori looked back to Chiro.

Chiro immediately responded, "It's at the Grand Squid Hotel. My apartment number is 405."

Kori returned his attention to his phone. "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah. That's convenient since he lives in our building. Alright, we'll meet there promptly at 3:30 pm. I'll contact the others and notify them of the meeting's location."

"Alright…..oh, you don't need to call Carla. She's with me along with her sister and my new friend."

None of them could tell for obvious reasons, but the girl on the other end raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

"Really? Considering she hasn't met you before, I'm surprised you're hanging out with her. What do you think of her?"

Kori groaned, "She's very…..." Kori nervously looked at the girl, "strong."

The girl on the other line chuckled, "Yeah, that's the impression she leaves on everyone. Anyway, I'll see you guys there with the others."

"See you." Kori disconnected the call.

"Who was that?" Chiro asked.

"That was Number 1. As selfish as always, she demands a sudden meeting without concerning herself with everyone else's schedules. Especially since we know we're asking a lot of you to allow us in your new home."

Chiro chuckled, "It's fine. Really, it is."

"Thanks, man."

"So…..we need to find new members, huh?" Carla sighed.

"Yeah. Damn, the selection process is going to be tedious. Not only do we have to find two more people, but we have to argue with the others and convince them to accept our choices."

Carla nodded. She was responsible for nominating Number 9 into the Elite 10, and since her choice was just dismissed, her next candidate will be under stricter scrutiny than the others. The same dilemma applies to Kori since he nominated Number 10. However, the real issue is to find Inklings that they perceived to be worthy of recommendation. They can't openly judge people on their performances without risking the news going around too quickly and being pestered by a lot of people to be recommended. Also, the news was on short notice too. Carla realized she had her phone off the entire day, so she couldn't have gotten Number 1's call at all and start looking for possible candidates.

Carla consulted her now activated phone and saw she did have ten missed calls. The time was 2:59 pm. There was no way she or Kori could find people that were decent enough to join in time.

Wait…Carla mentally slapped herself in realization. She forgot that her own sister was good enough for a spot in the Elite 10.

"Well…..I don't know about you, but I have my nominee right here." Carla placed a loving hand on Viv's shoulder. Vivi blinked and smiled with joy.

Vivi said as calmly as she could, "Really?! You're recommending me?"

Carla nodded. "Like I said earlier, you have improved dramatically. Besides, I was contemplating on suggesting we kick out Number 10 and replace her with you."

Vivi squealed with joy as she gave Carla the tightest bear hug imaginable.

"I love you, sis!"

Carla rubbed Vivi's back with a smile. Chiro couldn't help but smile at Vivi's cute display of affection, but he turned to Kori with a concerned expression.

"What about you? You still need to find someone." Chiro asked.

Kori exhaled sharply, "Yeah…I don't know what to do." Kori stood motionless with his head down and arms crossed as he quietly thought about what he could do to resolve his predicament. Members are required to at least suggest one person for a position, but he doesn't know anybody good enough to talk about…unless.

Kori slowly looked up to Chiro.

 _Despite being a newbie, his dual-wielding and fast reflexes are nothing to ignore about, but he made too many mistakes that shouldn't even occur in Turf Wars and is slightly reckless. It reminds me of how Number 1 used to behave when she started. However, with time, he could be on par even with the likes of me. Maybe….._ Kori thought.

Kori looked at his watch and saw that is was almost 3:05 pm.

"Oooooh, we need to go so we make the meeting."

"It's nice to know you're coming this time." Carla teased Kori as she lightly pinched his cheek and walked off to the hotel.

Kori lightly blushed and rubbed his cheek to soothe the discomfort.

Chiro and Vivi giggled at Kori's flustered expression before following Carla.

* * *

"Wow, this is a nice place, Chiro." Carla happily commented. It didn't take long for the four of them to make it Chiro's apartment five minutes before the meeting was supposed to begin _._

"Yeah, thanks. Make yourselves comfortable; I'll start getting out the drinks and snacks." Chiro started rummaging through his refrigerator. Thankfully, the hotel was kind enough to stock his home with a month's worth of food and other provisions for being a resident. Hotel employees kindly arrived at his apartment last night and asked if he wanted them at all. Since Chiro is slightly lazy and didn't want to go out to buy his own food and drinks, he gratefully accepted their offer.

Vivi and Carla plopped down onto the comfortable sofa in Chiro's living room with a relaxed sigh. Kori found the remote for the TV on the coffee table and turned on the large TV. The three were engrossed in watching a highlight reel of the day's best Turf War plays and players.

After a couple of moments, a knock was heard on the door, and Kori instantly made his way over before Chiro could go.

"Don't worry about it, I got it." Kori patted Chiro's shoulder. Kori slowly opened the door to see an Inkling boy and girl standing in the hallway.

"Hey, Sora, Momo, come in."

The two looked at the boy strangely.

"Kori? It's rare to see you attending one of our meetings." The boy named Sora said. Sora was a fifteen-year-old Inkling and was slightly shorter than Kori. He had pink hair and pink eyes. He wore a varsity jacket, headphones, the standard black shorts, and Red Sea Slugs on his feet. He is Number 8 of the Elite 10.

Momo was also fifteen-years-old. She had navy-blue hair and dark grey eyes. She wore a Bobble hat, a Mountain Vest, the typical shorts, and Blue Moto Boots. She was slightly shorter than Sora. Momo is Number 7 of the Elite 10. She simply waved at the older Inkling when he greeted them outside the designated apartment.

"I know, I know. You guys all missed me." Kori proudly said. Sora and Momo playfully rolled their eyes as they removed their shoes before walking to the living room with the others.

"Sora! Vivi! Hey!" Carla excitedly waved at her friends from the couch. The smiled at the energetic girl and took the empty spaces to her right on the couch. Carla introduced the two to Vivi with joy. Vivi extended her arm and shook their hands before she proceeded watching the highlight reel.

Momo looked around the apartment they were in, admiring the simplistic, yet spacious design and layout.

"This is a nice place. By the way, whose apartment is this?" Momo gently inquired. Her voice could be compared to an angel's beautiful vocalic. Right on cue, Chiro carefully placed an assortment of drinks and snacks down on the coffee table.

"It's my apartment. Nice to meet you two. My name is Chiro Knight." Chiro answered as he offered the two apple juice. For continuity reasons, the first thing that attracted their attention was Chiro's white hair. Sora was almost about to ask before Chiro raised his hand in front of him, signaling him to stop.

"Sorry to stop you before you got to speak, but to answer your question, I was born with this color," Chiro informed the two, "Oh, Kori, I ordered some pizza as well. That should be fine, right?"

The older boy nodded as he inserted a straw into his juice packet.

"Sorry for the intrusion." Momo bowed in apologetically.

"It's fine. Besides, at least my apartment feels less empty now with other people here."

"And I actually love your hair color. It reminds me a little of milk tea, and I love drinking it." Momo complimented him with a light blush gracing her cheeks. Chiro bashfully thanked her while gleefully smiling. He was glad that someone liked it and didn't rudely question it. Unbeknownst to Chiro, for some reason, Vivi was upset with how he responded to the girl and frowned, but quickly regained her composure without anyone else noticing as well.

' _What the heck was that?! He was so nice to her instantly, but with me, he was afraid to even come near me at first….but then again, I did almost choke him to death,' Vivi_ scratched her in in embarrassment as she reflected on her rash actions towards Chiro earlier in the day, ' _I mean, Momo didn't do something like that, and she's very pretty. Is that it? Am I not pretty enough? Is my chest too small? Her chest is more developed than mine. Am I too ugly? Why am I thinking about all this?'_

While Vivi was occupied with reviewing her own self-image, another knock came at the door, but Carla decided to answer it this time.

Three familiar Inklings were standing on the other side.

"Callie! Marie! Sanae! Glad you three could make it on such short notice." Carla beckoned the three into the apartment. Sure enough, both Callie and Marie, the iconic Squid Sisters, casually strolled into the apartment with another Inkling girl.

"Hey, guys. Sorry, we could have been here earlier, but Marie here insisted that we grab an Octo pie from the bakery before coming here," Callie looked worriedly at her cousin, "Honestly, you have an addiction to those things."

Marie glared at her, "It's not an addiction. It's a perfectly healthy inclination to always wanting to eat my favorite food."

Callie rolled her eyes. "Suuuuure. Agent 3, why didn't you help me stop her from buying it? You know just as well as I do that she eats too much of that gross stuff."

Sanae, or Agent 3, innocently shrugged her shoulders. Sanae appeared to be the same age as Chiro and Vivi. She had neon green hair, pink eyes, and wore the entire Hero Replica gear.

"They're not gross," Marie retorted, "They're delicious. Much better than all the repulsive cake you eat."

Callie gasped, "Cake is scrumptious, and you know it, Marie!" The two stuck their tongues out at each other before Sanae broke them apart.

"Come on you two. At least act your age. Honestly, squabbling over pie and cake?" Sanae scolded the two older girls. Callie and Marie retracted slightly in shame. "None of those two can even compete with crepes." Sanae boldly proclaimed.

That instigated another heated exchange between the sisters and Sanae. Everyone else ignored the argument and continued what they were doing before. Well, almost everyone.

"Uhhhh…..why are the Squid Sisters here? Also, shouldn't we stop them? They're getting a little loud." Chiro whispered to Sora. Sora was sitting on the edge of the couch with his head resting on his fist and only shifted his eyes to him.

"Nah. This is normal for the three of them to argue about the most trivial stuff in the world. Their arguments in one way or another end up being the topic for Splatfests anyway, so we don't say anything," Sora took another sip of his juice, "To answer your other question, they're part of the Elite 10. You didn't know that?"

Chiro shook his head. Sora looked at his him disbelief, but it was only momentary before returned his attention back to the TV.

Sora looked back up to the Squid Sisters. He slowly strolled his way over to them and raised his arms up in defense; just in case their anger somehow got directed towards him and they were like Carla.

"Um….excuse me." Chiro hesitantly said. Callie, Marie, and Sanae stopped at the sound of his voice and looked at him.

"I-I'm sorry, b-b-but c-can you stop y-yelling at each other, p-please?" Chiro's stuttering emerged once again in front of the three girls. The three remained relatively silent for a while before Callie suddenly embraced the poor boy in a crushing hug.

"HE'S SOOOOO CUTE! MARIE, SANAE, LOOK AT HOW ADORABLE THIS BOY IS!" Callie squealed in delight as she started to spin in circles with Chiro in her arms.

 _SHE'S GOING TO KILL ME! COME ON, GIVE ME BREAK ALREADY!_ Chiro screamed internally as he was slowly losing consciousness from the tight grip squeezing the breath out of him.

"Callie….let go of him before you kill him." Marie sighed at her cousin's humiliating behavior.

Callie instantaneously stopped. "Huh?" Callie tilted her head toward Chiro and released her grasp on him. Chiro dropped to the floor with a loud crash and was gasping for air.

Callie nervously chuckled a quick 'sorry' before helping him to his feet. Chiro frantically hid behind Vivi for protection.

"Good job. You frightened the poor kid." Marie chastised her cousin.

"But he's sooooo cute. I love holding cute things." Callie whined to Marie while jumping in place.

"You're so immature. If our fans knew you were like this….ugh."

Chiro cautiously raised his head from behind Vivi and whispered into her ear, "Why are they here? Aren't they celebrities?"

Vivi turned around and nodded. "Yeah, they are, but they are also among the best ten Turf War players in Inkopolis. Callie is number two, and Marie is number three. Sanae there is number four." Vivi informed him.

Chiro face palmed. He presumed almost getting killed a second time made him forget what Sora just told him about the two icons.

"For some reason, though, Callie and Marie call Sanae _Agent 3_. They never explain as to why they do so, but they do, just for your information." Carla added.

"But really? They're better than Kori?" Chiro questioned. Kori's performance in their Turf War was beyond anything he could have anticipated from an Elite 10 member, so seeing three people that are ranked above him is unfathomable.

Kori clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention.

"Alright, everyone except Number 1 is here. Let's get ourselves organized before she arrives." Kori advised and the others agreed. By sheer coincidence, a knock came from the door and Sanae went to answer it.

"That's probably her. Chiro, you ready to meet the best player in all of Inkopolis?" Carla asked the boy next to her.

To be completely honest, Chiro was anxious to meet the girl. The best player out of everyone in the Elite 10, and the one who possess the most influence in the group and the entire Turf War community.

"Hey, Tsuki." Sanae greeted the girl at the door.

"Hey, sorry I called you and the others so suddenly, but you understand the magnitude of the situation, right?" Tsuki asked. Sanae nodded and gestured for her to come in.

Tsuki was very attractive by most standards. Tsuki was sixteen years old. She had light purple hair and light green eyes. She had Pilot Goggle resting on her head. Tsuki also wore a Retro Sweat, the standard shirts, and White Seahorses.

"Thanks," She made her way to the living room, "Before the meeting commences, I would like to thank all of you for coming on such short notice and thank Kori's friend for allowing us to use his apartment. So, where is the boy?"

"He's right here, Tsuki." Carla waved her hand to get Tsuki's attention and pointed to Chiro.

"Great, thanks for-" Tsuki was rendered speechless the instant she saw Chiro. Chiro slowly arose from his seat with a shocked expression and slowly approached the girl.

A long, uncomfortable silence pervaded the room as Chiro eventually stopped right in front of the girl.

After a few moments, Tsuki mustered the strength to weakly say, "C-Chiro….is that you?"

"Sis?" Chiro questioned.

* * *

 **Please Review.**


	6. Initiation

**Splatoon: Pure White**

 **Chapter 6: Initiation**

Ignorance has plagued Chiro's psychology since the day of his fourteenth birthday. As dictated by Inkling anatomy, young Inklings obtain their complete humanoid form when they turn fourteen-years-old. The day prior was still very vivid in Chiro's mind, especially since it occurred two weeks before the events of the current story. Since Chiro explained that his mother sheltered the poor boy since birth, he was confined to his room sitting in front of his mirror and staring intently at his reflection. Like many other Inklings about to become fourteen, he impatiently awaited the exact moment he would transform into a humanoid. Considering his unique white color, he was completely white in his pre-humanoid form. His mother had allocated the time to get that day off and was cooking him a banquet of his favorite meals.

Before assuming the position of owner and CEO of the Ammo Knights Corporation, Chiro's mother was a renowned chef and manager of the most famous restaurant in all of Inkopolis, so Chiro always waited to eat his mother's delicious meals with high anticipation. Despite their opulence, Chiro and his mother lived alone together in their modest size penthouse towards the north end of the city. Chiro's father had unfortunately passed away due to undesirable circumstances. He was originally the owner and CEO of Ammo knights, but the company was relinquished fully to Chiro's mother – as mandated by his father's will….which meant that she was compelled to return to college and receive a proper education for the position.

Returning to his memory, Chiro's mother had called him to the kitchen for dinner. Afterwards, Chiro and his mother spent the rest of the night that day watching family friendly movies since his mother forbade him from watching anything violent. He must have fallen asleep sometime during the night and had woken up early the next day in his large bed. He realized that he was no longer as reflective as he normally was because of ink color – he now was completely humanoid. Chiro admired at his newly developed body in the mirror. He loved his light-toned skin, green eyes, and the way his white hair glistened in the early morning sunlight.

Chiro launched out of his bed to the living room to eagerly show his mom his new appearance. However, as he arrived in the living room, his mother was engaged in a conversation with someone on her phone and was crying profusely. She didn't seem to notice him at first, but when she did, she disconnected the call and wiped the tears from her eyes. Chiro only stared at her curiously, but she disregarded the look and admired at how 'cute' he turned out to be.

Before Chiro could really say anything, his mother told him that he would be moving to inner-city in two weeks' time alone, and that he should begin packing his belongings. He never could comprehend why his mother, who always kept him within an arm's reach, was suddenly sending him off on his own nor could he think of a reason why….

…but now in his large apartment, he believed he may have discovered the reason.

* * *

"Sis?" Chiro questioned.

"Chiro?" Tsuki questioned back.

Standing before Chiro's eyes was his older sister, Tsuki. Chiro was overwhelmed with an unimaginable sense of euphoria and astonishment at the sight of his sister whom he has not seen for two years. Since their father's passing, Tsuki ran away from home, and neither Chiro nor their mother knew where she was…..until now.

"I-Is that really you?" Tsuki prodded as tears started to accumulate in her eyes.

Chiro smiled smugly, "Well, from what I've gleaned from everyone's reaction to my hair, there isn't anyone that has white hair like mine."

Tsuki gleamed as she lunged herself toward Chiro and embraced him tightly. She was strong enough to lift him off from the floor and spun around in joy. Her squeals of joy could virtually be heard through the entire city….along with Chiro's cries of pain.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE HERE! WHY ARE YOU HERE? AHH, WHO CARES…..I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" Tsuki exclaimed.

"I….missed you too," Chiro strained out, "But can you let me down now?"

Tsuki pouted at his request and narrowed her eyes.

"Let you down? After two years of not being with you, you can't indulge your own sister and let me give you all the affection I haven't given you in years?" Tsuki gave her little brother an adorable puppy dog look.

Chiro diverted his attention away from her with an embarrassed expression and sighed.

"A….alright." Chiro said shyly.

Tsuki responded by planting a soft, tender kiss on her little brother's cheek.

"Thanks." Tsuki whispered as she tightened her hug and lovingly rested her head on Chiro's shoulder. The two siblings enjoyed each other's embrace in complete silence for quite some time before being brought back to reality by Sanae.

"Uhhh, sorry to interrupt this emotional reunion, but we need to proceed with the meeting, Tsuki." Sanae quietly stated to the girl that appeared to be in her own fantasy. Tsuki blinked in realization and carefully released her hold on Chiro.

"Oh, sorry, everyone," Tsuki lightly coughed into her fist to try and brush off the flustered sensation she was experiencing, "I didn't mean to delay our meeting."

Carla giggled at her reaction, "It's alright…but still, it's shocking that you're Chiro's older sister. Why didn't you mention anything about having a little brother?"

Tsuki uncomfortably rubbed the back of her head.

"Well, the subject never arose, so I didn't feel the need to inform you guys."

Carla stared at her disbelievingly. She explicitly recalls that on multiple occasions each of the members disclosed having siblings during miscellaneous conversations, and when anyone prompted Tsuki to share, she changed the subject almost immediately.

Every one of the members thought the same thing, but they abstained from contradicting her since she appeared to be uncomfortable.

"Alright." Sora responded.

After Chiro straightened his clothes, he quickly slid a couple of chairs from the kitchen for the Squid Sisters and Sanae to sit in and gladly took the space next to Vivi. Vivi smiled slightly and swiftly slid closer to him. Their shoulders were basically touching, but for some unapparent reason, Chiro seemed to be oblivious to the close contact as he was engrossed in watching the highlight reel on his TV. This resulted in Vivi giving an annoyed expression toward the boy resting her head on her arm with a sigh of disappointment.

Her actions didn't go unnoticed by everyone else in the room. Carla and Momo failed to stifle a small giggle while Callie and Marie groaned at Chiro's denseness. Sora and Kori pinched their temples in slight frustration at their fellow male Inkling's stupidity. Sanae just rolled her eyes.

Tsuki furrowed her eyebrows while trying to suppress a mischievous grin.

' _Aww, so little Chiro has a girl's attention?'_ Tsuki mused to herself as she meticulously scrutinized Vivi. ' _She doesn't look half-bad. Oh, I can tell I'm going to have fun with this in the future.'_

Tsuki and Carla exchanged a playful look with each other. They both nodded in affirmation as if they telepathically agreed to one thing: _We'll tease them together._

Without any prior indication, Tsuki's expression transitioned from silly to emotionless. The other members acknowledged the change in her aura and assumed more serious and attentive sitting positions.

Chiro and Vivi were caught by surprise at the abrupt shift in the room's ambiance.

 _What's with this sudden oppressive atmosphere?_ Chiro inquired to himself.

"Now, let's commence and discuss the purpose behind this meeting." Tsuki intertwined her fingers and rested her hands over mouth. The others nodded in agreement.

"As you all are aware, Number 10, Shiro, and Number 9, Haru, were excommunicated from our ranks, and we must fill their previous positions quickly before the news spreads throughout Inkopolis. I'll be honest; I have no desire to be swarmed by a plethora of players that demand to be considered. You all remember what happened last time I presume?"

The other members nodded with an exasperated sigh. Before Carla was inducted as Number 6 four months ago, news spread of the Elite 10 searching for an Inkling to replace her predecessor. Each of the members was overwhelmed with an unfathomable amount of requests from all Turf War players. Some Inklings were desperate enough to send some of them food as a way of bribing them to accept them. Unfortunately, the situation escalated to where they even received threats. Luckily, Tsuki found Carla instantly and gave her the position before things got any more severe.

"As normal, each of us needs to nominate at least one person for consideration. Afterwards, we deliberate on each other's recommendation and evaluate their performance before coming to a final vote." Marie stated as she took a sip of her favorite drink: milk tea.

"Yes," Tsuki nodded with a smile, "So, let's start with you, Sora."

"Okay. There's this one guy named Tsuna. He's fifteen and meets all the requirements for candidacy, but his performance in Turf Wars is inadequate. He only averages 700 points a game. Also, he tends to work alone and does not hesitate to use a teammate to draw enemy attention to get easy kills." Sora informed the others.

Marie shook her head in disapproval. "Well, that's not good. A typical player should at least average 900 points. That may not be a requirement, but to me, that indicates he's not good at all, and it's despicable to use teammates for your own gain." Marie commented.

Chiro eyed her curiously. "What are these requirements?" Chiro kindly asked. Marie turned her attention the boy and directed a nice smile at him.

"Well, to be considered for the Elite 10, a player must fulfill three specific criteria. One, they must be at least level 20; two, they must have a B-ranking or higher, and three, they must receive a nomination from a current Elite 10 member. Following all that, we evaluate them on their attitude and cooperation with others. We don't want a despicable person representing us. You understand all that?" Marie explained to Chiro.

Chiro nodded in confirmation.

"What about you, Momo?" Callie inquired.

"There is this boy named Evan. He's outstanding in many regards, but he treats others condescendingly and gets aggressive if his team loses one match, so he's definitely out of the question. Sorry." Momo relayed.

"No worries," Tsuki said as she patted the girl on the back reassuringly, "Callie? Marie? What about you two?"

The Squid Sisters exchanged disgruntled looks before returning their attention to the leader.

"Our nominee is definitely not qualified by a long shot. She's only level 15 and barely maintains a C-minus ranking. We see potential in her, but it's barely discernable." Marie uncomfortably explained.

Tsuki sank in her chair and cupped her face in her hands in frustration. Evidently, they were already making no progress towards occupying the two vacant positions within their ranks, and the others were displaying similar actions of discontent.

Tsuki looked at Carla with an almost pleading expression, which Carla responded with a smile.

"Carla?" Kori asked almost expectantly since he knows here response.

"I recommend my sister, Vivi, here." Carla proclaimed happily as she wrapped her left arm around her sister's shoulders. Vivi blushed from the sudden contact and squirmed uneasily under the stares of everyone else.

"Really? Tell us about her." Sanae beckoned her to continue.

Carla nodded quickly, "She's level 20 and maintains a consistent B ranking in Ranked Battle. To a certain degree, she can be quite….hysterical –in a good way, mind you-and she's a very kind and sensitive girl. I believe she should be a high contender for joining us."

Vivi smiled slightly from her sister's praising of her. Chiro questioned the 'sensitive' description but kept it to himself in fear of being assaulted by Vivi again. He shuddered at the mere recollection of her almost strangling him to death earlier in the morning at Ammo Knights.

Tsuki sat motionless with a contemplative expression for few moments while staring intently at Vivi before nodding and shifting her eyes to Sanae. Sanae acknowledged her staring and cleared her throat before speaking.

"I…" Sane droned on in an attempt to add suspense. The other's decided to humor her slightly childish behavior and started leaning forward in their seats in anticipation.

"…..got no one." Sanae finished nonchalantly. The others fell in place with a groan.

"Come on, Sanae! You don't have at least one person to recommend?" Kori whined as he picked himself up from the floor.

Sanae shook her head while giving him an innocent smile and big eyes.

"Oh my goodness, Agent 3, we're in a serious meeting and you do a horrible joke like that?" Callie scolded the young girl while repeatedly poking her in the chest.

Sanae raised her arms up defensively, "OW…..sorry, sorry. I thought I should try and ease the tension in the room with a joke. However, I really don't have anyone that I would consider decent."

Sanae is the only member that never really considers the meetings to be anything that warrants any serious participation or conviction, so the other members gradually became accustomed to her aloof behavior and just disregard her lack of input during their meetings.

"Please, Kori, be our savior and have at least one person." Tsuki sighed.

Kori nodded.

"No need to worry. I have someone that would be perfect for the Elite 10."

Tsuki sighed in relief, "Great. Who?"

"Chiro." Kori replied with confidence. Said boy started choking on his iced tea and was thrown into a violent coughing fit. Vivi instantly started patting him on the back to help settle him down.

"M….*cough* me?!" Chiro gasped in shock.

Kori nodded excitedly.

"B-but Kori, I just started playing Turf Wars today. I'm in no way qualified to be in the Elite 10." Chiro reminded his older friend frantically.

Besides Kori, Carla, and Vivi, everyone else's eyes widened in shock from his words.

"Kori, you're recommending a beginner to one of our seats?! Have you lost your sense of logic since we last saw you?" Callie screamed at the yellow haired boy.

Kori simply shrugged his shoulders in response.

"This is ridiculous. If this is your way of being facetious, we don't find it amusing at all, Kori." Sora said in a confrontational manner.

"I agree. This is a serious meeting, and yet you have the squids to say something so stupid!" Momo added.

Many of the other members continued spouting their own words of disapproval and aggravation towards Kori, but the amount of criticism he was receiving didn't stifle him from responding with his own callous retorts. Harsh words were exchanged amongst the group of teens for quite some time. Despite being taken by surprise by his nomination, Chiro gradually sank further and further into his seat as more harsh words were being said about him. Some of them weren't so considerate enough to not speak rudely about a newbie, especially if the person is right there with them.

"ENOUGH!" Tsuki bellowed at her friends. Sensing her brother's discomfort, she immediately took the initiative to stop them from saying anything more before things got out of control. The entire room was silent from her sudden outburst. Tsuki inhaled a large breath of air and exhaled slowly before calmly saying, "Now, Kori, would you care to explain why you're suggesting my little brother?"

Kori exhaled sharply as to calm his nerves. "Regardless of his level and rank, Chiro demonstrates impressive reflexes and fighting prowess. Despite being down by two players in our Turf War match, Chiro displayed unparalleled abilities and skill usually not seen in beginners."

"Would you care to elaborate, please?" Sora asked calmly.

Kori nodded, "Of course. First and foremost, Chiro possesses the ability to wield two main weapons simultaneously, dual-wielding to be precise. He wielded both a Splattershot Jr and a Custom Splattershot Jr."

The others gasped in shock.

"Dual-wielding?! That's never been done before. That can't possibly be true!" Sanae said.

As if on cue, the highlight reel playing on the TV transitioned into Chiro's and Kori's match. The screen showed Chiro equipping Vivi's Splattershot and using both his and her weapon with relative ease to splat their opponents in quick succession.

"Well…..damn." That's all Momo could muster to say.

"Now, I do admit, Chiro is reckless and could use room for drastic improvement, but as you all can see here, he did quite well for his first match. To be honest, he's already better than the previous Number 10." Kori remarked.

Tsuki remained silent as she tried to closely analyze all of Chiro's movements from what was being shown on the TV. She agreed with Kori on her little brother's recklessness in the match, but she ascertained the potential Kori was boasting about.

Marie smiled coyly and said, "He's pretty good. Don't you think so too, Callie? Agent 3?" Marie nudged the two playfully with her shoulders. Both of them jumped slightly from the unexpected contact and glared and groaned in minor annoyance at her.

"Yeah, I guess he's good." Callie finally said. Sanae nodded in agreement.

"However…." Momo interjected, "It doesn't exclude the fact that Chiro here doesn't meet the level and ranking requisites. Even though he seems to be somewhat skilled, he currently isn't eligible for the Elite 10 status."

"That's why I also nominate Chiro." Carla proclaimed with a grin.

"Huh?" Chiro questioned. Even Vivi gazed at her older sister incredulously along with the others.

Carla continued, "Remember, guys, either one or both of the aforementioned requirements can be bypassed by another nomination from another Elite 10 member. That's why I cast my vote for Chiro along with my sister."

Sanae bonked her own head childishly. "Ah, that's right. Stupid me, I completely forgot about that rule. Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Sanae kept bumping herself on the head at her forgetfulness.

Callie gently grabbed Sanae's hands to stop her from continuing.

"Agent 3, please stop before you give yourself a concussion." Callie advised with a deadpanned expression.

Sanae looked away in shame.

"Sorry."

"Well, he still doesn't meet one of the requirements. We're still at an impasse." Sora commented.

Tsuki smiled, "Not necessarily, Sora. This may be biased on my part, but I also nominate my adorable little brother."

"Sis, what are you doing?!"

Tsuki raised her hand at Chiro, gesturing to him to cease talking.

"I do agree with Kori that you require some assistance in improving, but you have the capacity to be better than some of us." Tsuki began.

"But I don't care about that. I don't care about being in the Elite 10. Yes, I admit that the concept is interesting, but playing in Turf Wars and being part of a 'prestigious' group is…..only at best could be a hobby to me. I mean no disrespect to any of you, but that's how I genuinely feel. Kori, I'm sorry, but you're wasting your recommendation on me." Chiro articulated.

"'A hobby'?" Sanae gasped in shock. "Do you realize that Turf Wars is a key aspect of our culture? You can't just say it's a hobby. Many people devote their entire lives to Turf Wars and make a living off them. It's not a hobby, it's a career."

"I'm aware that it can be like that. But the same notion applies to things like Squid Golf and Squid ball. It's the same inking thing. People can make a living off them, but not many people have the ability to ascend to the professional and become successful." Chiro responded with slight annoyance.

"Turf Wars are different. Squids have a higher chance of making it to the professional level and being sponsored by many companies and other businesses," Kori added, "And that possibility increases with being in the Elite 10. All of us are scouted by a lot of sponsors and are essentially guaranteed full sponsorships and stable careers as professional Turf War players."

Chiro's interest was piqued. "So that's why people try so hard to be amongst your ranks? I thought it was just for vanity and getting special privileges."

Carla shook her head.

"No, not at all. Yes, you do have some bragging rights, but all of us do it secure a successful future for ourselves. Unlike you and Tsuki, we're not endowed with having a mother who owns one of the largest corporations in the world, so we do this for our own benefit." Momo informed.

Chiro realized that his remarks may have been inconsiderate and insulting to some of their feelings and efforts to staying in the Elite 10. He hung his head in shame and apologized.

"It's fine, man. Although, I'm surprised you were not familiar with that about the Elite 10." Sora said.

"He was sheltered for his entire life. Anyway, Chiro, regardless of how you feel, you will participate in the evaluation process along with Vivi, so you may as well do it." Tsuki said as she rested her hand on his shoulder and gave him a thumbs up.

Vivi beamed at her words. "Wait, does that mean I'm almost in?"

Tsuki nodded and directed a far too friendly smile to her.

"But…." Chiro began.

" **Do it, Chiro!** " Tsuki said menacingly as her grip tightened on his shoulder and glared at him. Chiro winced at the sudden pain and began quivering in fear. An oppressive aura surrounded Chiro's older sister and pervaded the entire room. The other Inklings in the room retracted slightly in fear.

Chiro nodded slowly and sighed in defeat. Chiro's sister was not one to be trifled with under any circumstances. In actuality, Tsuki was the person that attributed to his minor phobia of girls because of how she was prone to…..'Expressing her sisterly love for him' (basically she physically assaulted him on a consistent basis. She loved him after all?). As a result of her constant 'loving' harassment, Chiro knew to never defy her at all at the risk of suffering from the root of his childhood trauma.

"Great. Now, how are we going to test you two?," Tsuki questioned as she rubbed her chin in a contemplative manner, "Turf Wars are closed for today, but just seeing how you do in Turf Wars won't provide sufficient information on both of your overall performances."

The Elite 10 members sat in silence as they individually attempted to determine a way to test both Chiro and Vivi. Chiro briefly glanced over to Vivi who was sitting cross-legged on his sofa with the biggest smile he has ever seen on the girl. She was mumbling happily to herself while rocking back-and-forth in her seat.

Chiro couldn't resist blushing a little at how cute she looked like that. In retrospect, this is actually the first time he really paid attention to how Vivi looked as a squid since her trying to choke him and to say he definitely found her to be beautiful would be understatement at this point.

"Oh, I know." Callie announced. Everyone looked toward the normally exuberant girl.

"What?" Kori asked.

"How about we see what they can really do in the next Splatfest? In Splatfest, squids battle against both ranked battle players and Turf War players randomly, so we can see how they perform in different situations and against different types of players." Callie explained.

Tsuki lightly chuckled, "I like that."

"That's a surprisingly good idea." Marie gawked at her cousin.

Callie frowned. "What do you mean 'surprisingly'? I always have great ideas." Callie said a little arrogantly.

Marie rolled her eyes but gasped, "Wait, do we even have the topic for the next Splatfest? I mean, Splatfest is this Saturday, and I don't remember announcing the sides for squids to choose."

Callie's eyes widened. "Oh, no. We don't have anything!" Callie screamed and started hyperventilating.

"You idiots haven't even decided yet?! How can you two be so irresponsible?! YOU BOTH ORGANIZE THE DAMN THING!" Sanae yelled at the two idiots.

"We know! How did we forget the most important thing about Splatfest?!" Marie yelled to herself.

Callie's rapid breathing intensified and Marie hugged her cousin tightly to try and calm her breathing.

"Hey, someone get her something to drink before she passes out." Momo said with urgency in her voice. Sanae quickly responded by grabbing a full bottle of Lemon Tea from the coffee table and haphazardly opened it before extending out to the panicked Squid Sister.

"Ew, don't give that junk to her. Give her Milk Tea." Marie said with disgust. Callie's hyperventilation abruptly stopped before she scowled at Marie.

"Marie, Lemon Tea is not junk. It's the most delicious and refreshing drink in the world. Milk Tea is the one that is gross." Callie whined.

Marie was indignant.

"WHAT?! MILK TEA IS THE BEST AND YOU KNOW IT! Tell her, Agent 3."

Sanae rubbed the back of her head uncomfortably. "Sorry, Marie. I'll have to side with Callie on this argument. Lemon Tea is better."

Marie gasped as she clutched the fabric of her dress over her heart.

"You….traitor." Marie pointed at her with bewilderment.

"Ha, ha. I win." Callie blew a raspberry at Marie.

"Yeah, Lemon Tea is the best." Momo said confidently.

"HA." Callie laughed mockingly.

"Yep, it's Lemon Tea." Sora exclaimed.

"No, Milk Tea is the superior tea." Carla protested.

"Sorry, Carla, but you and you are wrong." Tsuki said as she pointed at Carla and Marie.

"No, it's Milk Tea." Kori countered.

"Definitely." Vivi stated, siding with Marie.

Both sides refused to back down and were engaged in an intense stare-down.

"Lemon Tea!" Team Lemon Tea bellowed.

"Milk Tea!" Team Milk Tea yelled back as they rebuffed the others.

"Well, you guys lose because it's 5 to 4. Lemon Tea is better." Sanae said.

"No, you can't tally the results since Chiro here hasn't even casted his vote yet." Marie contradicted. All eyes were on the white-haired boy. Chiro was sipping on a simple green tea drink before he cautiously placed it down on the table.

"Green Tea?" Both Marie and Callie asked eerily with deceiving smiles. Chiro was struck with absolute fear and broke out in a cold sweat.

"I like your squids. We're arguing here, and you decide to bring in a third option?"

Chiro chuckled nervously and tried to scoot behind Vivi.

"Chiro, vote for Lemon Tea, please." Sanae begged.

"No, join us. I'm your friend, remember?" Kori shouted.

"Forget that. I'm your sister, Chiro. Support me and join Team Lemon Tea."

"Come on, Chiro!" Kori yelled.

"Chiro, join us. I bought you breakfast." Carla reminded him as if she was calling in on debt he settled when she forced him to carry her purchases at the mall and 'hang out'.

"Forget that. I'm famous. Don't you want to be on my side?" Callie whined.

"Callie, I'm famous, too, and I'm more popular. He should be with me?" Marie crossed her arms.

"You're not more popular than me!" Callie exclaimed.

"Hurry up and join us so we can win." Sora yelled.

Both sides looked at him expectantly, and Chiro felt nothing but confliction. He continued glancing back and forth between the groups; not knowing what to do. Yes, he wanted to be with his sister, but Kori and Carla have been nice to him - well as nice he thought they could be –and didn't want to disappoint them.

Chiro kept weighing the pros and cons of either side until he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He turned to see it was Vivi.

Vivi lightly blushed and tenderly said, "Chiro….don't you want to be on my side?"

Chiro blushed a deep shade of red.

"I'm on Team Milk Tea." Chiro uttered real fast.

Seduction successful!

"Yes!" Marie shot her fist up in the air triumphantly.

"NOOO! NOOO!" Callie screamed over-dramatically as she got down on her knees.

"How could you betray your sister like that?!" Tsuki inquired.

"Man, now it's a tie." Momo complained.

"Not for long," Callie stated as she quickly recovered from her minor tantrum, "A Splatfest will decide the true outcome of this argument. Lemon Tea will be the ultimate victor!"

"Dream on! Milk Tea will win." Marie countered.

"I doubt it, Marie, but at least we have a topic for Splatfest, and now we can judge both Vivi and my little brother." Tsuki added.

"I guess," Marie pouted, "So what colors are we going to use?"

"Lemon Tea will be yellow, of course, and Milk Tea will be….dark yellow?" Sanae said unsurely.

Momo shook her head.

"We can't do that. It would be hard for Judd and us to tell the two apart and accurately decide the winners for each match."

"And brown ink doesn't exist, and that type of color wouldn't be visually….uh…appealing."

"Yeah, you're right." Marie's mood shifted into sadness. However, she glanced at Chiro and pounded her fist in her hand in elation.

"Hey, we could use Chiro's ink for Team Milk Tea."

"Huh?" Chiro tilted his head in curiosity.

"White ink? Well, that's more ideal, but….people might take it the wrong way." Callie scratched her head awkwardly.

"I don't care. We'll use his ink exclusively for Splatfest, so it shouldn't really be a problem." Marie walked over and took Chiro's hands in her own, causing the boy to blush and Vivi to frown.

"Chiro, we need you to give us some of your white ink so we can produce a large supply of it for our team. You don't mind, right?" Marie asked while making puppy-dog eyes.

"Y-you want my white ink?"

Marie nodded happily; the sexual implications of his ink color and what he said completely going past her sense of logic.

"Oh, my….." Momo covered her mouth with her hand while blushing.

"O-okay. Sure."

"Great, then it's settled. Congratulations Vivi and Chiro, you two will be considered for joining us if you do well in the Splatfest. Now, we just need to appoint a proctor for both of you." Tsuki said.

"I can look after Chiro." Kori suggested.

"And I can look after my sister." Carla said.

Sora frowned.

"No. I won't allow that. The both of you may be too biased in your recommendations." Sora chided.

Carla frowned and bitterly said, "Whatever. Then, what do you propose we do, Tsuki?"

"Simple, Kori judges Vivi; Carla judges Chiro." Tsuka casually responded.

"Still, I'm not so sure about those two evaluating them." Sora continued with his issues.

"It's fine. Besides, you know that we Elite 10 members usually don't participate in Splatfests anyway, so let them have fun this time." Tsuki said to calm Sora down.

"You don't play in these 'Splatfests'?" Chiro asked.

"No. Judd would be too overwhelmed with judging the matches in Splatfests. The frequency of Turf War matches almost quadruple during Splatfests, so we help Judd by regulating and judging matches too. Also, it makes it more fair both sides of Splatfests if we didn't play in them since there might be a chance where most or all of us join one side, so we imposed a rule that prohibits Elite 10 members from playing in them. However, I'm willing to lift the ban just for Carla and Kori this time only." Tsuki explained.

"Yeah, because it's your little brother that's trying to get in." Sora mumbled to himself.

"So does everyone find those conditions some-what acceptable?" Tsuki the other members.

Callie and Marie gave her cheesy thumbs up while everyone else simply nodded.

"Good," Tsuki clapped her hand together, "That concludes today's meeting."

"What? It's over already? Kori, I thought you said these things usually last a couple hours. That was only 45 minutes." Chiro remarked as he looked at his watch.

"They do. We usually talk for thirty minutes to an hour, then we just party." Kori elaborated. Chiro stared at him incredulously before a knock at the door caught his attention. Chiro rushed to answer the door and saw it was the pizza delivery man.

"Hello. I have twelve large pepperoni pizzas here for a Mister...," He pulled out a receipt slip and read the name on top, "Knight."

"Yeah, that's me," Chiro handed the man 600 gold coins, "Thanks." Chiro licked the door shut and brought the heavy tower of pizzas to the table. He dropped them with a heave.

"Sweet, now the food is here. Let's party!" Tsuki said with in a playful tone. She was back to her usual self and eagerly began opening one of the boxes.

Callie stretched her arms out and sighed, "I just remembered, we have an appointment with our manager soon. Sorry, but we can't stay."

"Hmm if fine vith fus, right guys?" Tsuki asked her friends with a mouth full of pizza. Luckily, they understood her and smiled at the Squid Sisters.

"Thanks guys," Marie sighed in relief before making her way to Chiro and handing him a piece of paper, "Here's my number. Call me tomorrow morning so we can set up storing your ink. Well, bye."

Marie winked at Chiro before walking out of his apartment with Callie and Sanae who also waved goodbye.

"Well, well. Count yourself lucky, Chiro." Momo said with a sly smile.

"What do you mean?"

"You just got one of the Squid Sister's number. Squids would kill to have that, so you better cherish it." Tsuki teased her brother.

"Well….she is nice and kind of pretty too, so I guess if it's as good as you say it is, then yeah, I guess I am lucky." Chiro said almost too happily and blushed when he realized he said the first part a little more loudly than he wanted to.

Vivi frowned at what he said and angrily took a bite out of her pizza.

Carla laughed softly and whispered into her sister's ear, "Hey, don't be jealous."

"I'm not jealous." Vivi sneered. Carla stared at her with disbelief.

"Please, I know you're interested in Chiro."

"Am not."

"Really. Then why did you frown when Marie winked at him, or when he called her pretty? You normally don't care when one of your other guy friends says something like that about another girl." Carla whispered with a smug smile.

Vivi blushed and stuttered out, "I….I w-was n-n-not…."

"Vivi…."

Vivi turned to see Chiro sitting back down next to her and looking at her with concern.

"…you okay?" Chiro asked.

Vivi didn't really answer. She meekly nodded and just nibbled at her slice of pizza with a deep shade of red gracing her cheeks.

"Man, even after joining, it took me three months to get her number. It's not fair. How did this newbie get it so fast?" Sora whined as he was sulking in a corner of the room.

"Well, you're just bad with girls." Kori snickered at Sora, earning a tearful glare from the boy.

"Ooooooh, you hit a sensitive spot there, Kori." Momo said with pity.

Tsuki wiped her mouth with a napkin to get rid of the remaining sauce before sitting next to Chiro.

"So, little bro, do you mind if I stay here tonight?"

Chiro was caught off guard by the question.

"Why?"

Tsuki pouted. "Come on, I don't see you for two years and that's how you respond. I want to catch up and maybe sleep together like we used to when we were younger."

Chiro blushed in embarrassment and jumped up. Vivi gasped in shock after what she just said and stared intently at Chiro with narrowed eyes.

"D-don't say that in front of people. It's embarrassing."

"Aww, do you not want to sleep with your older sister like we did in the old days?"

"That's not what I…." Chiro was interrupted when Tsuki suddenly brought him in a tight hug and started caressing his white hair.

"There's no need to be shy about it. No matter what, you'll always be the little turd I love, and it won't be that bad. What? After two years, you think you're too old to sleep with your sister?"

"YES!" Chiro's response was muffled since his face was being pressed hard against Tsuki's shoulder, but it was still audible.

"Hmm, now that won't do," Tsuki coed, "Hey, Carla, do you want to stay over the night with me and Chiro?"

Vivi bit her own tongue from the request and hunched over in pain while grabbing her mouth. Carla briefly stared her questioningly until she saw Tsuki pointing back and forth between Chiro and Vivi. Afterwards, her mischievous smile from earlier returned and she subtly nodded.

' _Ohhhh, she wants to start the fun now. Ah well, better now than later.'_ Carla mused to herself.

Carla tried to act indifferent and leaned back in her seat.

"Sure. I'd love to stay here. My mom and dad are gone for the next three days because of a business meeting near Octo Valley, so I'm free to stay where I want." Carla said.

Vivi recovered from the searing pain on her tongue. Sometimes, she cursed Inkling anatomy for giving her sharp fangs because she always bit her tongue at least once a day since she attained her humanoid form last week. After most of the pain subsided, Vivi stared at her sister worriedly.

"Sis, what about me? You know I can't be left alone, and I can't cook. What will I do for food?" Vivi asked as if she was beginning to panic.

"Hmm, you could order takeout." Carla was struggling to suppress a smile from forming on her face.

"We're eating pizza. I can't eat takeout twice in a day. Mom said that's unhealthy."

"Well, I guess you're going to stay here at Chiro's with me then." Carla's smile couldn't be contained after she saw how red and flustered Vivi looked.

Chiro tried to lift his head from Tsuki's shoulder and speak, but his older sister pushed his head back down more into her shoulder.

"That's a great idea, Carla. You can't just leave your little sister alone in a big apartment. I guess there's no helping it. Right, Chiro?" Tsuki beamed with twinkles in her eyes.

"Mhmh mm mhmm." Chiro tried to say as he struggled to push himself away from Tsuki.

"Wait a minute, sis," Vivi said, "What are you trying to…"

Before Vivi could finish her question, Carla delivered a swift uppercut to her gut. Vivi was rendered unconscious and Carla started carrying her on her back.

"Well, now, since you humbly offered to let us stay for the night, I suppose we just get it out of the way and grab our stuff. We'll be back in a couple minutes, bye!" Carla said hurriedly as she sprinted out of the apartment while carrying Vivi in a piggy-back style.

"AHHH, COME ON! Now he has three beauties staying at his place. Life is so unfair." Sora screamed as he stormed out the apartment in tears.

Momo groaned, "There he goes again. Every time he sees a guy getting even remotely close to a girl, he gets so emotional and depressed."

Momo begrudgingly got up followed after Sora.

"And if someone doesn't help calm him down, he stays like that for hours. By 'someone' I mean 'me'. Why do I have to always go and calm him down?"

"Because you're the best. Fightto!" Tsuki cheered for her. Momo stuck her tongue out at her before leaving.

"Well, I guess I should go get my stuff, too. Kori, Chiro, keep the pizzas warm until we get back, okay?" Tsuki asked as she pushed her brother back and walked out. Kori gave a half-hearted salute while Chiro gasped for air.

"You have a lovely sister, Chiro." Kori complemented. He and Chiro were the only ones left in the white haired boy's apartment. Kori took another slice of pizza as he sat down next to the air-deprived boy.

"You going to live?"

"M-maybe."

A long, but comfortable silence pervaded the room. The only sounds being produced were from the TV and the boys chewing on the pizza. After what seemed like forty minutes, Chiro finally broke the silence.

"Hey, Kori, I need to ask a favor of you." Chiro looked almost distraught, as if he realized a forgotten horror or something.

Kori raised his brow in curiosity and replied, "What do you need?"

Chiro suddenly extended both his arms and grabbed the sixteen-year-old by the shoulders and started crying, "I NEED YOU SPEND THE NIGHT HERE WITH ME, TOO!"

"Eh?"

"Please, Kori. Don't leave me alone with those…..monsters! They'll kill me before dawn tomorrow. I at least need someone to turn to if things get out of hand."

Kori removed chiro's hands from his shoulders and patted in on the back.

"Hey, don't you think you're over reacting a bit? Yes, Carla and Tsuki can be scary at times, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't do anything bad. Vivi seems like she's a nice girl. I think you're worrying over nothing."

"Kori….I lived with Tsuki for twelve years, and I've known Carla longer than you. There's no mistaking it, they're up to something, and I'm most likely going to be their victim if they do execute their plan. And for Vivi, I like her, but she is almost as bad as them. Those three almost killed me today. Imagine what they might do if we were alone with no witnesses. Please, I beg of you. Stay here."

Kori has never seen someone look so scared in his life and could only nod. He may have met Chiro that day, but he did like him as a good friend, so he guessed he could something like that for him.

"Okay. I'll go talk with my parents. I live on this floor so I'll be back real quick." Kori explained as he got up and left the apartment.

Chiro collapsed in his couch in relief.

 _Thanks, Kori. And if anything does happen, I at least have someone to use as protection._

* * *

 _ **Sorry if it seemed like the ending was rushed. Please Review**_


	7. Sleepover

**Splatoon: Pure White**

 **Chapter 7: Sleepover**

In the midst of all the overwhelming emotions and experiences Chiro has endured in his first day in Inkopolis, he honestly perceived it to be a decent one. Yes, he begrudgingly admits that almost being killed on multiple occasions – even though they were some-what unintentional – wasn't a pleasant thing, those times did lead him to making many friends.

The one that attracted most of his attention though was Vivi. If it wasn't for his carelessness while he rushed to locate his apartment and knocking into her, Chiro wouldn't have had the opportunity to meet the others. He mentally scolded himself for how he ridiculous he acted toward her when they met. Chiro has always possessed a slight phobia of girls ever since his younger years. His sister's constant 'loving' harassment and teasing of him when they were younger consequently instilled a fear of her and all girls in general. However, after getting to know Vivi more, his phobia diminished a lot when he's around her.

Due to his sheltered life, Chiro has never really interacted with a girl other than Tsuki and his mother. He found her personality to be refreshing. Yes, she can be scary at times, but she's also surprisingly timid at times and kind. However, Chiro has a difficult time trying to understand why she tends to blush and get really close to him when she looks at him.

 _Maybe she has a fever?_ Chiro pondered

Anyway, Chiro likes her. So far, she's a good person, and he's greatly happy to be friends with her. Plus, he thinks she's cute, but keeping that to himself seems to the most ideal option for now since he technically got officially acquainted with her this morning.

The sun had set on the horizon as its remaining rays of light continued to paint the western sky with an assortment of vibrant colors ranging from mellow orange to a subtle violet, but thunder clouds seemed to be congregating and making their way over to Inkopolis. A few lightning discharge wicks could be seen going off in the clouds, indicating a vicious storm approaching.

Much Inkling were beginning to retire to their homes for the night to catch up with family, eat dinner, or simply rest up for tomorrow's battles in Turf Wars.

Normally, many would be content with the day concluding in a tranquil manner, but a single, white-haired Inkling was all but tranquil in his apartment.

All Chiro wanted to do after the restless day he's had was collapse in his bed, sleep, and rejuvenate for tomorrow, but that wasn't happening at all. He had been involuntarily coaxed into accommodating a total of four other Inklings for a sleepover in **his** apartment.

His older sister, Tsuki, Vivi, Carla, and Kori were staying over in his spacious home. Despite having to deal with so many of them late in the day, he wasn't truly upset about the whole 'ordeal'. At least he wasn't alone, and they are his friends.

In spite of his earlier protests, Chiro was glad that he had the chance to be with his sister. Kori was cool, he was grateful that his parents allowed him to stay over, and Carla was okay as long as she didn't try a wrestling move on him. However he couldn't explain why he was happy to have Vivi in particular stay over at his home. While the girls were preoccupied with their own conversation in the kitchen, he privately confided in Kori his feeling about her pertaining to staying over. All he got in response was a calm laughing fit and him saying that it probably because of something called a 'crush'.

"What in the world is a 'crush'," Chiro asked the older boy, "Is it some kind of soda?"

Kori sighed with a look of astonishment. "Uhh….actually yes. There is a soda called 'Crush', but in this context, no. Come on, bro, do you honestly expect me to believe that you don't know what a crush is?"

Chiro stared at him blankly. Kori was baffled that what Tsuki said about Chiro being a sheltered boy for his entire life wasn't being seen as a lie. He sighed as he crossed his arms behind his head.

"Okay, a crush is when you really, really like someone, in this case, your feelings with Vivi. Also, those feelings can be conveyed in many ways…..like getting that 'warm' feeling when you're near them, or constantly wanting to be close to them, or looking at them with a funny, dorky face. You got that?"

Chiro hooked his finger in front of his mouth in a quizzical manner. He didn't really comprehend the meaning behind his friend's words, but he returned to Kori's last example.

"The 'dorky face'…..is it the same look you have when you stare at Carla?"

Kori blushed profusely and pulled Chiro into a close huddle. Chiro yelped in surprise and was about to question his elder for the abrupt action, but Kori clasped his hand on Chiro's mouth to silence him while looking over his shoulder. Luckily, the girls were still engrossed in whatever they were talking about and didn't seem to notice them.

Kori whispered, "Hey, do stay stuff like that out loud, Chiro."

Chiro raised his brow curiously.

"Why not? You do stare at her with a funny look on your face…do you have a 'crush' on her?"

Kori's blush intensified to the point that even his hair turned a light shade of pink. He sighed uncomfortably before nodding in affirmation.

Chiro leaned closer to his friend with a look of innocent interest in Kori.

"So…..how does having a crush feel like," Chiro was beginning to bounce in his seat, "Does it feel weird? Is it nice?"

"It….feels like how I just described it."

"Um…so why do you have a crush on her?"

The question caught Kori by surprise as he diverted his eyes away from Chiro.

"Well….she's pretty…charismatic…has a cute smile…assertive, and most of all, she's sweet….even though she wrestled me to the ground when we met." Kori whispered as quietly as he could during his explanation.

"So….are those the conditions needed for having a crush? Feeling warm around a person and being assaulted? Then I guess I do have a crush on Vivi." Chiro said.

Kori pinched his temples in frustration from his friend's inability to grasp such a simple concept. Yes, he admitted that he could of elaborated more on his explanation, but he felt that he explained it well enough for him to understand. Chiro eyed Kori curiously before Kori proceeded to re-explain the idea of a crush to the naïve boy.

Unbeknownst to the duo, the girls were engaged in a similar conversation; however, most of the attention was directed towards a flustered Vivi, and the questions were much more….blatant.

"So, Vivi…..do you have the hots for my little brother?" Tsuki inquired with a smirk.

The question caught the poor girl off guard and she started choking on her Ginger Ale. After Vivi regained consciousness from her sister delivering a hard blow to her gut, she was suffering from severe stomach pains and was slightly delirious.

"W- *cough* w-what d-did you s-say?!" Vivi coughed out while pounding her chest.

"Do you have a crush on my precious little brother?" Tsuki slightly rephrased.

Carla snickered at her sister's reaction while Vivi tentatively placed her glass down on the counter. A deep shade of red graced her cheeks while she nervously fidgeted with her tentacles.

"W-w-why w-would y-you ask t-that?" Vivi stuttered out as quietly as she could. Vivi tried to glower at the best player in Inkopolis, but her expression surmounted to nothing more than an adorable, tearful pout.

Tsuki chortled, "I noticed earlier that you got really, really close to Chiro, and I also saw how upset you looked when he failed to notice what you were doing."

Carla added, "Indeed. Also, earlier last night, she was so obsessed with little Chiro that she talked nonstop about him until she persuaded me to help introduce her to him properly."

Vivi angrily grabbed her sister's sweatshirt while her dark blush spread all over her face.

"That's a lie. You wouldn't believe me that he even existed, so I convinced you to come with me to Ammo Knights to prove that he was real and had white hair." Vivi hissed as she lightly shook Carla.

Carla smirked to herself while she raised her arms up defensively.

"I don't recall such an incident occurring." Carla lied.

"You liar!"

"Awww, Chiro has a girl obsessed with him." Tsuki cooed.

"I'm not obsessed with him! And shouldn't you be more concerned than happy about something like that?!" Her shaking of her sister started to get more aggressive.

"But you have a crush on him, correct?" The question was more up front.

Vivi released her tight grip on her sister and started muttering incoherently.

Tsuki leaned in expectantly. "Well?"

Vivi looked between Tsuki and her sister uncomfortably before slumping her shoulders and sighing in defeat. She quickly glanced over her shoulder to determine if Chiro or Kori was listening, but luckily, the boys were more interested in their own conversation and seemed oblivious of what they were doing.

"W-well, I don't deny that he's c-cute, and that he doesn't behave like most of the other stupid boy squids….and that he's really caring…and that he…."

"Stop stalling and answer the question." Tsuki said rather sternly. Vivi winced from the sudden change in her tone, but she lowered her head and stared at the floor.

"Y-yes, I think I like him."

"You 'think'? You either do, or don't. Which is it?" Carla prodded while jumping in place like a little school girl.

Vivi groaned, "Okay, I like him, alright? Are you done?"

Tsuki grinned to herself in satisfaction and nodded in affirmation.

"Besides…..it doesn't matter anyway." Vivi said depressingly.

Carla and Tsuki eyed her questioningly. Vivi inferred their expressions as an indication to explain herself.

"I mean, I'm not attractive in any regard. My chest is flat; I'm impulsive; I'm not pretty. I just don't have any outstanding qualities. Chiro doesn't act like other Inklings, but he still is a boy. He probably likes girls with stuff that I don't have."

Tsuki sighed and rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, your chest is flat."

Vivi flinched and groaned to herself from her remark.

"But I doubt Chiro is really concerned with such trivial things like that."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Chiro has never been around any other girls beside me and our mother, so I don't believe he knows to pay attention to things like that about girls, even if he's a boy."

"Uhh…I wouldn't say that." Carla said.

"Huh?"

"Well, I promised Chiro I wouldn't say anything, but ink it, I'll tell you two anyway."

"What did you promise Chiro?" Vivi questioned.

Carla leaned closer to the two and gestured them to do so as well, which they complied.

"Chiro was staring at your butt earlier this morning when we were resting at the bench before we went shopping at Arowana Mall."

Vivi gasped in surprise and instinctively covered her rear with her hands.

"WHAT?!"

Carla gave her toothy grin.

"Yep. He was giving your rear a meticulous examination if I may say so. From my perspective, he looked quite disappointed when you turn around and had to look away."

Vivi's gradually grew more embarrassed after each passing second as her sister continued to relay other instances where Chiro focused all of his attention on her during some…provocative moments.

"*sniff* My little brother is becoming a big squid." Tsuki sniffled happily as she wiped a tear of joy away from her eye.

" **THAT SQUID!** " Vivi squeaked and growled while narrowing her eyes towards Chiro. Vivi was on the verge of furiously stomping over to the poor boy and repeating what she did to him earlier in the day, but fortunately, Carla intervened and pushed her back cautiously.

"Come on, sis. That's no reason to try and brutally mutilate the poor kid. In a sense, you should be happy."

Vivi stared at her older sister in shock. "How am I supposed to be happy about that?"

"It shows that Chiro _is_ interested in you, even though it's currently being shown in an unusual way. You just claimed that there would be no possible way for Chiro to like you, but on the contrary, it appears that he does like you."

Vivi relaxed herself and felt conflicted between being livid and elated. Yes, she was upset that a boy was constantly checking her body – any girl would be, but she wasn't that upset since it was Chiro.

Does that mean her self-worth and standards for herself are situational? Vivi shook the thought out of her mind.

"T-that doesn't p-prove t-that." Vivi stuttered.

Tsuki sighed and exasperation and turned to look at her brother.

"Look, say what you want to spare your own feelings, but I know my little brother more than anyone in the world. Trust my intuition when I say that there is a high chance that he's attracted to you."

Tsuki placed her hands on Vivi's shoulders in a reassuring manner and gave her a comforting smile.

"Besides, we wouldn't be having this conversation if I didn't approve."

"Huh?"

"Vivi, despite how imposing I am about this whole situation, I am very protective of my little brother. Ever since our father died, I have kept him under a close eye to make sure nothing ever happens to him. I try to ensure that anyone I consider to be a bad influence or could be a threat to him is kept at bay, but as you could tell, I'm not like that with you. I've known you and Carla for over two years now, and you have my implicit trust when it comes to Chiro and other things. I know you wouldn't deliberately hurt him. On another note, if things go well, I would love to have you as _my_ little sister."

Vivi internally groaned. At this point, she's hoping Chiro doesn't tell her about what she did to him at Ammo Knights.

Vivi mustered a timid 'really?'

Tsuki nodded happily.

"B-but what if he doesn't like me like that?"

Tsuki looked offended after that question.

"I feel insulted. Trust me; he has the hots for you, too. Maybe, and as the best matchmaker in all of Inkopolis, I will help you get into a relationship with Chiro." Tsuki proudly proclaimed.

Carla beamed out of inspiration while Vivi deadpanned.

"'Best matchmaker'? What the splat is that about?" Vivi asked monotonously.

Tsuki and Carla pouted, "Hey do you want our help or not?"

Vivi resigned to the fact that she probably has no choice but to accept their help. She exhaled sharply and meekly nodded.

Who knows…..maybe Chiro would be a great.

"Hey, Tsuki." Carla began.

"Yeah?"

"While we're at it, could you help me as well with my own boy troubles?"

Tsuki was in pure bliss.

"Sure. Who's the lucky guy?"

Carla's blush was slightly more intense than that of her little sister's, which caught Tsuki by surprise. Normally, Carla never behaved this way when discussing about a boy she was considering on dating.

"I-it's K-Kori." Carla revealed.

Tsuki and Vivi stared at her incredulously.

"Kori?"

Carla nodded.

"OHHHH, boy. That's going to be a hurdle too high for me to help you jump." Tsuki sighed.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just that Kori…can be rather perverted when it comes to girls."

"Perverted? What do you mean?"

Tsuki shrugged uncomfortably.

"I mean, it's just the typical perverted stuff you would expect of a guy: imagine you without clothes, try to peek at you in the shower, come up with weird fantasies, etc."

Vivi cringed after every remark. "Are you sure it's safe to have him here with us for the night?"

Tsuki chuckled, "Don't worry, he knows not to make such crude advances when there are three girls that could easily leave no traces of his existence. Besides, this is Chiro's home. Even if we didn't want him here, it's Chiro's decision on whether or not he can stay."

Vivi huffed. "Yeah, you make a good point. Still, I don't feel okay with you being around this kind of guy, sis. What if he does something that hurts you?"

Carla couldn't help but smile at her little sister's concern for her feelings. True, they do bicker a lot about trivial stuff, but at least she knows that her sister loves her.

"You need not worry about that." Tsuki assured.

"What?"

"I've confronted Kori about something like that. Despite his perverted tendencies, he knows when to draw the line. Also, he has been with a girl before, and he said that until the relationship is over, he will remain loyal to the girl he's dating and try to cut back on his…..unfavorable actions. He's actually a really great guy; it's just his perverted nature being his only fault."

"Really? That's surprisingly noble of him," Vivi commented, "So, you're going to try and date that pervert, sis?"

"Well, if Tsuki says he's okay, then sure I will. Besides, he's really handsome. Who wouldn't want to date him?"

"I wouldn't. Honestly, you're interested in him because of his looks?" Vivi answered.

"Well, you got Chiro all to yourself, so I'm not surprised." Carla winked at her sister.

Vivi huffed while blushing. "Stop insinuating things. We're still fourteen."

Carla snickered at her sister's reaction and stuck her tongue out at her.

"Well, for now, let's concentrate on helping Vivi getting close to Chiro, Carla. Occasionally, I'll help you with Kori, but I want to see how this relation develops first." Tsuki said.

"Okay, fair enough. So, Vivi, how do you want go about doing this?" Carla asked.

Vivi was rendered baffled. Considering Vivi's age, she lacks any experience with being in an intimate relationship with a boy, so she was at an impasse on how to properly approach the situation.

"Uh, I don't know," Vivi itched at her tentacles, "I mean, what am I supposed to do?"

"Hmmm, maybe for now, I suggest that you work on getting physically close to him. Work your charms so to speak." Tsuki suggested.

Vivi slumped her shoulders. "But I tried that earlier, and he was completely oblivious. I don't think that will work."

"He was distracted by that stupid highlight reel on the TV. Since there aren't that many distractions now, you should try it and see what kind of reaction you get and go on from there."

* * *

"ACHOO!" Callie sneezed.

"Bless you. At least cover your mouth, Callie." Sanae scolded.

"S-sorry," Callie apologized, "Hey, are my highlight reels stupid?"

"What the…..? What brought that on?" Marie asked while sipping on Milk Tea.

* * *

"O-okay. I'll try that."

"Try what, Vivi?" Chiro asked as he suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The girls jumped and clutched at their chests to settle their raveled nerves.

"For squid's sake, Chiro. Where the ink did you come from?" Carla heaved.

"What? Did I startle you three?"

Chiro was only met with an uncomfortable silence and glares. Chiro shifted awkwardly from standing on one foot the other before looking back at Vivi.

"So, Vivi, what are you going to try to do?"

Vivi squeaked in surprise. She didn't know how to respond at looked to Carla and Tsuki for helped. They could only shrug their shoulders and shake their heads.

She returned her attention her crush that was patiently waiting for her response with an adorable, curious expression.

"Uhhhhhh…."

"Hmm?"

"Uh, I want to try…your cooking?" Vivi said as if it was a question. She mentally slapped herself for saying something so ridiculous. Out of the plethora of things she could have lied with, she chose the most far-fetched topic to use as a response.

"Really? Tsuki, you told her about me being a cook?" Chiro asked his older sister.

Far-fetched huh?

"Uhhhh…yes, I know mom taught you most of the techniques she's acquired over her years as a chef, and that you're almost on par with her. I thought your cooking of something healthy would be a great dinner since we ate a lot of greasy pizza earlier." Tsuki lied.

Chiro beamed as he rushed toward the kitchen and tied an apron around his waist.

"You should have said so earlier, sis. You know I love to cook, especially for other people. Now, what should I make for all of you?" Chiro had a contemplative expression as he rummaged through his fridge and pantries for possible ingredients.

"Nice save there, Vivi." Carla applauded her sister.

"I….I just got lucky. By the way, he can actually cook?" Vivi asked Tsuki.

She nodded proudly and said, "Of course. His cooking might as well be considered among the best you'll ever experience in your life. He learned from the best after all."

"Oh. Is that so?" Vivi pouted.

"What's wrong, Vivi?" Kori asked the seemingly upset girl.

"Shut it, pervert." Vivi snarled as she made her way over to the couch and angrily sat down while crossing her arms.

"What the heck did I do?" Kori whined.

Carla wrapped her arm around the boy's shoulders in a comforting manner.

"Don't let her attitude bother you, Cutie. She's just not fond of people, especially boys, being better than her at cooking." Carla explained.

"Why?"

"No reason." Vivi fumed.

"She's a terrible cook."

"Really?"

"Oh, yes. She inherited that ability from our mother."

"'Ability'? Don't you mean 'burden'?"

"No, their cooking is so terrifying beyond anything you could imagine that it may as well be considered a unique skill."

Kori still looked at her questioningly.

"Well, to summarize the whole thing in better detail, my mother once cooked a simple octopus dish for our dad, and he was administered to the intensive care unit and bedridden for a month. After he was discharged, Vivi here tried to help his post-recovery by cooking him an omelet with just cheese and onions. It was so disgusting and inedible that dad was sent back to the hospital for _two_ months and was hooked up to an IV. Now, both of them are forbidden form going anywhere near the kitchen."

Kori was slightly trembling in his place.

"Wow. She sucks that much?"

"I heard that, pervert!" Vivi spat menacingly.

"So yeah, she can't stand the fact that anyone can do something she can't, particularly cooking, so she gets upset easily."

Tsuki tip-toed over to Carla and leaned close to her ear. "Would it be bad to also mention that he could compete with professionals when he was six?"

Carla chuckled nervously and nodded.

"Okay, I don't have certain ingredients for the dish I want to make," Chiro said, "I wrote the stuff down on a list, and I'm going to head out and get the stuff before it starts raining."

Before Chiro could make his way to the door, Carla had swiftly grabbed the piece paper from his hand and held it above him and out of his reach.

"Ah, ah, ah, there's no need for a cutie like you to risk getting wet just for dinner. Kori and I will go and get the stuff you need." Carla said teasingly.

"What?" Kori asked.

Chiro cursed the fact that he was shorter than her and couldn't even reach for the list.

"Ugh, fine, but please hurry. I'm getting hungry myself, and it's not good for me to cook while craving food." Chiro complained.

Carla petted the boy affectionately on the head before grabbing Kori's arm and making their way to the door.

"Don't worry about it, Chiro. We'll be back before you know it." Carla winked.

"Wait, what about me?" Kori asked with a blush.

Unfortunately, his question fell on deaf ears as he was quickly dragged out of Chiro's apartment and down the hall by Carla.

"Okay, then. I guess I can make the sauce for now." Chiro said while grabbing a pot out of one of the bottom cabinets in the kitchen.

"Cool, but Chiro, would you like some help?" Tsuki asked.

"Sure, can you grab some of the tomatoes in the fridge?"

Tsuki shook her head.

"No, I'm not going to help…..Vivi is." Tsuki said while grabbing said girl and pushing her closer to the kitchen.

"What? But I don't want to help." Vivi grumbled.

Tsuki whispered, "Oh, don't be so grouchy. Besides, this is a great opportunity to start getting close to Chiro. Remember, start with touching and don't touch the food. I still don't want to die."

Tsuki gave one final push and a thumb up to the girl to boost her morale before relaxing on the couch. Vivi sneered at the older girl before shyly striding over next to Chiro. Chiro smiled widely as she grew closer and handed her an apron.

"Okay, now if you don't mind, can you finely dice the three onions over on the cutting board for me? I'm going to start mincing the tomatoes to make the sauce for my mom calls her special raviolis with sautéed vegetables." Chiro requested.

Vivi stared at him in utter astonishment. Now that she reflected on her cooking 'prowess' she can't do a single basic skill in the kitchen.

"Uhhh, actually, Chiro, can I just observe you for now? Even though I hate to say it, I can't cook at all, so I won't be much help." Vivi reluctantly said while looking away in embarrassment.

Chiro sensed her discomfort from revealing that and cautiously placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Surprisingly, he was happy that his phobia of girls wasn't as problematic when he was around Vivi, so he took some pride in being able to be around a girl other than his sister.

"Sure. Hey, maybe I can teach you some stuff while I'm cooking." Chiro said.

Vivi huffed slightly in frustration but nodded.

"Okay, now with the onions, or rather anything, when cutting things with a knife, bend your fingers in towards the palm of your hand and press your knuckles against the face of the blade to guide yourself and minimize the chance of getting cut." Chiro was beginning to take on the tone of an instructor. Chiro effortlessly and swiftly diced the onions in ten seconds flat and proceeded to do the same with the tomatoes.

Vivi had to rub her eyes to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. She has never seen someone prepare ingredients so quickly like Chiro before. Chiro went on with other preparations and Vivi couldn't resist being mesmerized by his fluid movements before she realized she forgot to heed Tsuki's advice. When Chiro started to slice carrots, Vivi intently slid her way closer to Chiro. She felt awkward at first, but she disregarded that feeling and made sure their shoulders were touching and that Chiro noticed this time.

Her efforts were successful.

Chiro's movements slowed down significantly and he was stuttering over his words.

"Y-y-yeah, w-what, w-w-what you d-do h-h-here is…." Chiro spluttered as a deep shade of red graced his cheeks.

"Oh? What do you do here, Chiro?" Vivi said seductively as she leaned more onto Chiro. At this point, Chiro's body temperature was quickly rising and he was worried that Vivi might start feeling his body heat.

She did and was happy with the results she was getting.

"Um, y-you f-f-finely slice t-t-them and….put them to the side so they can be c-c-cooked with the other as-assortment of v-vegetables."

Chiro poured the onions, tomatoes, and other ingredients into a pot and placed a cover over it.

"N-now we just let the sauce simmer for a couple of minutes." Chiro said frantically as he deliberately moved to the other side of the kitchen.

From the corner of her eye, Tsuki was closely watching how things would develop and smirked when she saw Vivi pouting like a little girl that had her favorite toy taken away from her.

Fortunately, Vivi recovered from her minor anger and took drastic measures: she lunged toward Chiro and embraced him tightly from behind.

The white-haired boy yelped in shock as his whole face turned red and his hair shifted from a pure white color to a light pink.

"Aww, Chiro, what's wrong? Don't you like hugs?" Vivi cooed innocently. She was grateful that Chiro couldn't see the massive blush on her own face as she tightened her hug around the boy.

"Uh…uh…" Was all Chiro could muster in a stammer.

Vivi felt completely flustered at this point. She suddenly embraced him on a whim and was surprised she was hugging him at all. However, she wasn't really complaining about it. She actually found it to be quite…warm, but she wished he could reciprocate. But since she was hugging him from behind, Vivi would have to settle for this.

"I like hugs….especially this one." Chiro whispered the last part.

"Huh? What did you say?"

"N-nothing. Um, Vivi….?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you let go? The sauce is almost ready." Chiro pointed to the pot where some smoke was emanating from it.

"Oh…..sure." Vivi responded sadly as she regretfully let go of Chiro.

Chiro turned around to face her while sheepishly scratching the back of his head. An awkward silence permeated the atmosphere around them for a long time. Chiro somehow completely forgot about the food, and Vivi looked in every direction but the one Chiro was in.

"Ooooh, it looks like it's going to be a vicious storm outside. The whole sky is clouded and I can see some lightning. I hope Carla and Kori get back before it starts raining." Tsuki commented out of nowhere while peering through the window blinds.

Just then, a loud boom of thunder erupted in the sky above, causing not only the air, but many of the taller buildings including their building to quake.

Vivi shrieked in fear and latched herself on to Chiro while quivering in fear.

"AHHHH, MAKE IT GO AWAY!" Vivi's scream was muffled since her face was covered by Chiro's chest.

"Eh? Vivi, you're afraid of thunder?" Chiro inquired. Since he didn't know how to react to the situation, all Chiro could do was have his arms raised while Vivi was trembling. Vivi lightly pushed herself away from him after the realization she was cowering in front of him and huffed.

"D-don't be ridiculous, Chiro. It j-just surprised me, that's all." Vivi played off.

Another loud thunder boom pierced the sky.

Vivi shrieked again and pressed herself closer into Chiro's chest while trying to hold back some sniffles. Chiro looked over to his sister for advice, and she responded by performing a 'hugging' gesture.

He returned his attention to the girl on his chest and could see she was shaking even more than before and could see some tears streaming down her cheeks.

 _Is she really that afraid of thunder?_ Chiro thought.

But regardless, he didn't like seeing her like this and did as Tsuki suggested. He nervously wrapped his arms around her diminutive figure and brought her closer than she already was. Vivi jolted in surprise from the sudden action, but she relaxed after she realized what he was doing. In all honestly, Vivi despised the idea of being viewed as weak, but her stubbornness to not being seen that way is completely thrown out the window. Yes, she knows it's kind of childish to be scarred of thunder, but it's one of her childhood fears that she's been having a hard time to get over.

"It's alright, Vivi. It's just thunder; it's not going to hurt you. I'm here if you need me." Chiro said soothingly. He started rubbing the back of her to comfort her and ease her anxiety.

Luckily, it seems to be working. Her breathing calmed down and she was shaking less. Vivi nodded in his arms and was just trying to calm down more in his arms. However, she may have gotten a little too relaxed.

She inadvertently rested her head near his neck and faint purring could be heard from her. Only Chiro could hear her purring and blushed when it started vibrating his neck.

Only one thought was in both of their minds: _It's so warm._

"Ahem, I hope we're not interrupting anything." A familiar voice said. Both of the fourteen year olds jerked their heads up to see Carla standing at the door with a sly smirk and Kori holding two bags full of food.

Vivi glowered at her sister and Kori for their 'great' timing.

 _Yeah, you kind of are._ Vivi hissed in her head.

She pushed herself away from Chiro with a hint of sorrow before recomposing herself.

"So, Chiro, where do you want the stuff?" Kori asked the boy.

With a faint blush lingering on his face, Chiro timidly said, J-just put it over on the island, please. I'll have dinner ready in a few minutes."

"Oh, Tsuki, I just got a text from Callie saying that tomorrow they'll be implementing more stuff in Turf Wars." Kori mentioned.

"What? What are they adding?"

Kori consulted his phone and referred to the text he received. "Uh, they'll be raising the level cap to 50, adding a S and S+ ranking to rank play, add a new Ranked Battle Mode called Rainmaker, two new weapons: a bucket weapon called a Slosher and a minigun called the Heavy Splatling. Lastly, they'll be adding more gear to wear. That's about it."

"Level 50?! Man that's going to take forever to get to." Carla complained.

"And they're adding all this three days before Splatfest? Man, who was the dumbass that decided that?" Tsuki cursed.

The rest of the night was rather boisterous after that. The thunderstorm was short and didn't bother Vivi anymore. Carla and Tsuki were insistent on teasing Chiro and Vivi for what happened earlier, and the two kids couldn't even look at each other without either one of them blushing like crazy, especially Vivi. Occasionally, Carla flirted with Kori, and he responded by flirting with her back.

After dinner, the girls decided to take a bath together, and Kori tried to corrupt poor Chiro by coaxing him into peeking at the girls. Chiro didn't understand what he meant by 'peeking' but since it involved the three girls that could probably kill him in a single blow for doing something wrong – and he thought Kori's version of peaking might be wrong – he chose not to.

Kori huffed in disappointment and sighed.

Once everyone was done with bathing and other hygienic needs, the girls claimed Chiro's bedroom for the night while the boys were ordered to sleep in the living room in the spare futons Chiro conveniently had with him.

Since Chiro had an exhausting day, he and Kori went to sleep instantly, but the girls were just gossiping amongst themselves for hours until they passed out from fatigue as well, and before they knew it, it was the next morning.

Kori had left early to help his parents with some miscellaneous chores at home, and Tsuki, Carla and Vivi were starting to leave.

"Hey, Chiro, don't forget to call Marie and set up a time to meet so you can help her and Callie with the upcoming Splatfest, okay?" Tsuki said.

Chiro nodded in affirmation. Tsuki smiled and rubbed her little brother's head affectionately.

"Alright. I'll give you a call later, and then we can try to catch up properly, alright?"

Chiro grinned and nodded before Tsuki stretched her arms and left.

"Well, I guess it's time we left to. We'll meet you at the plaza in two hours, Chiro. Don't be late." Carla said as she stumbled out of his apartment.

She's most likely still tired.

All that was left was Vivi. The two really haven't spoken to each other since the little incident the night prior. Vivi was squirming uncomfortably in her place while Chiro groaned lightly because of the silence. Eventually, the quiet atmosphere was starting to bother Vivi, and she decided to break it.

"Hey, Chiro?"

"Yeah?"

"Look, sorry about last night. I know I must of put you out of your comfort zone, and I didn't mean to take things that far."

Chiro didn't understand what she meant by not intending to take things that far, but he shrugged the question off.

"It's alright. I didn't mind it at all to be honest."

Vivi smiled. "Great. Oh, I just remembered something."

"What?"

"Look, you need to start leveling up and preparing for your evaluation during Splatfest on Saturday. You're decent, but you need to start gaining some experience so you do well."

"Okay, but how?"

Vivi sighed, "Play some Turf Wars. Also, if you need some help, I don't mind playing with you and giving you some pointers."

"Sure. When do you want to start playing?"

"Um….maybe at 10:00 AM. Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, it's a date!"

Vivi blushed from the statement and nodded before saying her goodbye and leaving.

"A-A-A d-date?" Vivi stuttered as she was walking down the hallway toward the elevator. She couldn't help but hum to herself happily while smirking with joy.

* * *

 **Sorry for the rushed ending and that I haven't updated the story in a while, but since school is going to be starting for me soon, I won't be able to update this story that often. I want to apologize in advance and thank you readers for your continued support.**

 **Please Review.**


	8. Love Triangle

**Splatoon: Pure White**

 **Hello, everyone. First and foremost, I want to apologize for the long delay between the last chapter and this one. School has been taking up a lot of my time, and it's difficult to exploit the opportunity to work on this story. Also, I'm sorry if any of you notice any parts of this chapter lacking in quality or not being thought out well. For some reason, I feel like my vocabulary has been decreasing ever since school started – kind of ironic, huh? To be honest, I worked on about 80% of this chapter in a single day and felt so worn out by the end of it – it's almost 11,300 words long.**

 **Anyway, that's enough about my personal life.**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Love Triangle**

With the day progressing like any other day, many Inklings were mingling about the main plaza below Inkopolis Tower. Their individual conversations with their friends along with the seemingly perpetual music that played through the large speakers at the base of the tower helped create the typical lively ambiance that usually pervaded the plaza. However, all the boy and girl Inklings loitering about the plaza were plagued with a single looming thought that served as the foundation for all their discussions: what's the topic for Splatfest?

The date for the next scheduled Splatfast was fast approaching. All the boys and girls were eagerly waiting for the day to arrive, and they were making all the necessary preparations to perform to the best of their ability to secure victory for their respective teams. Some were invested their time in leveling up since 30 more levels were implemented into the rankings, some were leveling up their gear, mainly the Splatfest tee, and others were simply reserving time slots in the Battle Dojo for practice.

Despite all their preparations and excitement for the upcoming event, most of the Inklings couldn't really get excited for it since they don't know what it will encompass. But that of course prompted some to pass the time by voicing their speculation of what the topics could be for it with their peers.

"I think it might be Singing vs. Dancing. Callie has been more exuberant with her singing recently, and Marie appears to be more energetic and jittery lately. Did you see her dancing in place during their last broadcast?" An Inkling girl asked her two friends.

"Yeah, I know what you mean, but I highly doubt they would do something so ridiculous such as singing and dancing. That's too boring to me." One of her girl friends said.

The first girl huffed in response.

"Then what do you propose it might be then?"

"Maybe Ants vs. Grasshoppers."

"That's even worse! Bugs are absolutely repulsive. Why would they pick something so stupid for the topic?"

"Hey, it could happen. Remember when they made us choose between the North Pole and South Pole because they couldn't even think of anything to fight about last time. Now that was just awful." A boy interjected.

The girl sighed while nodding in agreement, "True."

"How about Rice vs. Bread? That could be amusing." Her friend said.

"No, just, no." The girl rebuffed her suggestion.

The boy crossed his arms in a contemplative manner and snapped his fingers in satisfaction after a few minutes.

"How about Lemon Tea vs. Milk Tea? People are always arguing about which the superior afternoon beverage is."

The two girls had to stifle a chuckle from his claim, which earned them a quizzical look from the boy.

"Please….even if they decide to do something like that, Lemon Tea would emerge victorious; no question about it."

Both girls nodded in affirmation.

The boy scoffed, "Whatever. Milk Tea would win because it doesn't look like what you would ink in the toilet, unlike Lemon Tea."

The girls grimaced at his analogy, but retorted quickly nonetheless.

"Milk Tea does too, you squid! As a matter of fact, it looks worse than Lemon Tea!"

This led to a heated argument between the trio as they each gave facts that further promoted their side and demeaned the other.

While callous words were being exchanged, a familiar boy was idling walking by the three and inwardly groaned to himself as he was reminded of a similar argument that took place in his apartment the other day.

"Well, at least they unknowingly determined the actual topic for the Splatfest." Chiro sighed to himself.

Chiro was currently unsure of what to do to preoccupy his time before he met with Vivi for practice.

Not even ten minutes after she had departed from his apartment, Tsuki had returned and somehow managed to coax the poor kid into relinquishing his key card to her and staying out for a couple of hours.

Needless to say, Chiro was quite upset about the incident. He initially intended to relax for a while before heading out to meet Vivi and call Marie, but evidently that didn't go as planned.

Tsuki didn't bother to explain why she kicked him out in the first place.

Fortunately before essentially kicking him out of his apartment, Tsuki had given him to what she referred to as a house-warming present: a brand new Sporty Bobble Hat.

"Hey, you can use it to conceal your white hair so you don't attract any unwanted attention. I'm just thinking about your feelings, little bro!" He remembers Tsuki explaining with a gleeful mug gracing her face.

Chiro reluctantly sighed. At least the apparel was proving to be effective. Not a single squid had given him any unusual stares unlike they did two days ago and the other day – well…..other than the few occasional girls that stared at him and called him a cutie. Chiro always quickened his pace and looked the other way with a dark blush when that happened because of his slight phobia of them and some embarrassment. He couldn't understand why a lot of girls did that to him. As far as he could tell, he considered himself to look pretty normal in regards to his appearance, but lately his perception of his own looks was being contradicted.

First, there were those two girls on the train when he first got here, and then there was Carla, then Callie, and now more girls he didn't know. At this moment in time, Chiro just wished they would stop doing eyeing him all the time. He may be ignorant of many things because of his sheltered life, but even he knows that having this much attention was unsettling.

Actually, scratch that. This is outright excessive.

If he really could do something about it, he would want Vivi to be the only girl doing that.

Chiro stopped in his tracks.

"Hm…..why only her though? Yeah, I like her a lot since she's technically my first friend, even though she tried to suffocate me, unintentionally, but still…why do I just want her attention?" Chiro questioned to himself. He scratched his head while in thought before shrugging the question off.

Back to the previous subject, he had to admit; his sister was very intelligent, and decently perceptive to immediately know that his white hair caught a lot of peoples' attention.

He was happy to have been given a gift from his sister after two years of not seeing her. He couldn't resist clasping his hand over it while grinning like a little kid.

Chiro consulted his Squid Phone 6 to check the time and acknowledged that it was only 8:45 AM. Vivi and Carla wouldn't meet him until 10:00, and he wasn't mentally prepared to contact Marie since he was afraid of Callie being with her since they never seemed to be apart from one another.

So, he inevitably decided to wander aimlessly around the plaza for a while. After striding around the plaza for what seemed to be thirty minutes, Chiro had found himself to be on a walkway with a decent number of Inklings congregating around a large window. Chiro couldn't ascertain what it was that had them enthralled because of the amount of bodies obstructing his view. The Inklings were chatting excitedly amongst themselves and nodding to each other intermittently. Chiro sighed disappointingly since he couldn't see.

He shrugged and turned around to gaze over the guard rails. From his position, he had a wonderful view of the plaza and parts of the city to the south. A gentle breeze wafted through the air and created a relaxing atmosphere for the boy.

"Ahhhhhh, this is so nice," Chiro sighed contently, "Maybe I should call Mom. Haven't really contacted her since I arrived. She'll be thrilled to know I met Tsuki."

Chiro slowly grasped his phone from his hoodie pocket, but abruptly stopped when he remembered one of his miscellaneous tasks he said he would do.

"Maybe I should call Marie and get the whole ordeal over with before meeting with Vivi."

Chiro pulled out the piece of paper Marie gave him with her number on it. He pressed down on the phone icon before carefully typing the numbers on the paper into the call. After plugging the numbers in, he hesitantly pressed the call button.

Ring…Ring….Ring…

Chiro patiently waited for Marie to answer while humming a tune to himself.

"Hello?" A familiar voice beckoned.

Chiro jumped from the sudden answer before collecting himself.

"M-Marie?" Chiro stuttered.

"Yes? Who's this?" Marie asked.

"I-It's I, Chiro."

"Oh, hey! I'm glad you called. I thought you may have forgotten or weren't going to call at all." Marie sounded quite happy to hear from him.

"Well, I didn't want to be rude and disregard you since you did ask for my help the other day."

"Aww, thanks. Anyway, yeah, Callie and I need you to help us prepare for the Splatfest before we officially announce the teams and distribute team shirts. Can you come over to our studio as soon as possible?"

"Actually, I can come over now. I'm just loitering about the plaza right now."

"Really? That's great. Where are you? Do you know where our studio is?"

Chiro groaned to himself.

"Uh, no. I'm not familiar with where everything is since I just moved here two days ago."

Chiro could hear Marie sigh a little on the other end.

"Alright…can you describe where you are right now?" Marie asked.

"Um….I'm standing behind a big group of Inklings around a window on a walkway. I'm to the right of the tower. That's pretty much it."

There was a short silence.

"Uh, hold on for a second, would you?"

"Okay…." Chiro said quizzically. Chiro could hear the Inklings behind him scrambling with whatever they were doing, but he didn't pay much attention to them while he waited for Marie to speak again.

"Chiro?"

"Yes?"

"Okay, can you turn around?"

Chiro eyed his phone with a curious expression before complying with her unusual request. The instant he turned around, he was rendered surprised. The other Inklings had moved out of the way to give him an unobstructed view into the window, and he saw Marie standing close to the window on the other side and waving eagerly at him.

"Our studio's right here, sweetie." Marie said over the line.

Chiro waved awkwardly as he slowly walked closer to the window. He could see Callie sitting calmly in an abnormally large chair across from another one with a small round table separating the two.

Callie was contently sipping from a bottle of Lemon Tea while politely waving at him and giving him a wink.

"T-that's great…..but um….how do I get in?" Chiro nervously asked as he tapped on the glass

The other Inklings were staring at him with either looks of jealously or astonishment.

"Who the heck is this squid?! Is he actually talking to Marie?" One buy asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"I think so. And if he wasn't, she's communicating with him through the glass anyway." Another boy responded.

An orange haired girl pouted out of jealousy.

"Man, he's so lucky that Marie is talking to him."

The crowd continued with its murmurs while Chiro was trying as best he could to ignore the uncomfortable attention he was receiving.

Marie had quietly informed Chiro over the phone on where he needed to go to gain access to their studio. She didn't want anyone else in the crowd to overhear her directions and tail Chiro. From what he could deduce from the tone of her voice, Marie made the entrance sound a like a secret and subtly implied that he should be mindful of his surroundings before going anywhere near the entrance.

Said boy nodded in affirmation before disconnecting the call and replacing his phone in his pocket. He waved goodbye to Marie and Callie before turning to depart.

Chiro was almost able to leave swiftly, but was stopped by the group of fans that were either glaring at him or giving him envious looks.

"Hey, kid, how the heck did you get Marie's number?"

"Can I have her number, please?!"

"Hey, you're really cute. Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Is Marie your girlfriend?! You're so lucky, you little squid."

"Why in the inking world is she paying attention to you?"

"Come on; tell us what you two were talking about!"

"Why's your hat white?"

The questions and some-what callous remarks continued to be spouted from the crowd, and Chiro gradually grew more flustered and embarrassed. Being both shy and introverted has proven multiple times to be more of a hindrance than a benefit for Chiro ever since he arrived in Inkopolis.

The group of Inklings surrounding Chiro kept walking ever closer to him with each question, which made the possibility of escaping even more difficult. Eventually, he was cornered against the guard rail to his back and raised his shaking arms up defensively.

"L-Look, I can't really give any of you g-guys h-her number. N-Not without her p-permission. Plus, she's not m-my g-girlfriend; s-she's just a friend." Chiro stammered as he felt as though he was shrinking in size from under their….intimidating gazes.

"Come on, you dingus." They drew closer to the point where Chiro was pushing himself back further against the railing.

Chiro quickly rotated his head to gain some peripheral vision of his shoulder. He acknowledged that he was two stories above from the street and resigned to following his impulse to escape:

He jumped off.

The Inklings previously harassing gasped in shock as some tried to reach out and prevent him from falling, but to no avail. They were too late as they saw the innocent boy immediately descend to the ground.

Some rushed over to peer over the railing to see the damage while some girls shrieked in utter shock as they covered their eyes.

However, Chiro was unharmed, and all the Inklings there face-palmed themselves when they realized they completely forgot the most obvious fact of their anatomy – they don't have any bones.

While dazed by their idiocy, Chiro exploited the opportunity to escape and dashed off to the designated secret entrance to Callie and Marie's studio. He bolted around a nearby building before cautiously peering around the corner to see if any of them was following him. Chiro sighed in relief from finally escaping that uncomfortable predicament and started walking around.

* * *

After a few minutes of navigating through the congested plaza and down a few suspicious alleys, Chiro found himself standing in front of an enormous, metal door in a sketchy-looking alley. Looking around at the slightly dilapidated looking buildings around him, he was worried that he may have arrived at the wrong place, but as far as he could tell, this was the door that he thought Marie described over the phone.

He sighed depressingly and knocked on the door four times. Chiro slowly inhaled and exhaled as he mentally prepared himself for being around Callie again in case this was the right door.

After a few moments, Chiro could hear the faint sound of locks disengaging on the other side of the door, and soon it slowly opened with a metallic creak. Instead of Marie or Callie coming out as he expected, Sanae was the one that to peer her head out of the door.

Their eyes immediately met, and Sanae directed an adorable, toothy grin toward the boy.

"Hey…..Chiro, right?" Sanae inquired as she pushed the door open more and gestured him to come in.

He stood motionless as he stared at the girl oddly. Sanae stared at him curiously and waved her hand in front of his face.

"Uhhh, hello? Anybody there?" Sanae asked in a playful tone.

Chiro regained his awareness and frantically stumbled back away from Sanae. The green haired girl eyed the boy unusually from his peculiar behavior.

"What's wrong?"

"W-why are you here, S-Sanae?" Chiro questioned while quivering in his place. Sanae smirked deviously as she slowly trotted over to the trembling boy. She remembered that Tsuki had told her that Chiro has a slight phobia of girls due to her…rash actions towards him in their earlier childhood over the phone when she called her really late the other night.

"Awww, what's wrong, Chiro. Is my being here a problem for you?" Sanae cooed as she wrapped her arm around his neck, prompting the boy to blush a deep shade of red.

 _SHE'S TOUCHING ME!..._ Chiro internally screamed.

Stating that his anxiety level was extraordinarily high would be an understatement as Sanae not-so-subtly pressed her body closer to his, and her warmth was spreading to his arm. A smug smile graced her adorable cheeks as she felt accomplished since she was succeeding at teasing him.

"N-N-No, it's j-just that I-I'm curious why you're here. T-That's all." Chiro nervously stuttered out.

Sanae chuckled at his cute actions and smiled.

"Since I live with Callie and Marie, and am like a sister to them, they bring me along with them wherever they go, including to their private studio. Does that answer suffice?"

Chiro nodded shyly as he averted his eyes from her gaze and tried to look at anything other than her. Sanae frowned slightly from his lack of fully paying attention to her, but smirked to herself from getting an idea.

"Hey, Chiro….." Sanae said in sing-song voice.

Chiro shifted his head to turn to her, but regretted it immediately. Sanae had taken the initiative to invade his personal space even more by pressing her nose lightly against his when he turned and saying 'chu'.

Chiro yelped in surprise as he jumped back and fell to the ground. Sanae giggled profusely from his reaction and found herself to be rolling on the ground in a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHA, THAT WAS PRICELESS…HAHAHAHA." Sanae was flailing her legs up in the air.

Chiro recovered from the sudden contact and propped himself up on his elbows while glaring at the girl.

"Why did you do that, Sanae?!" Chiro asked with slight annoyance. Eventually, the girl's laughter subsided to intermittent giggles, and she answered his inquiry.

"T….*giggle* Tsuki told me that you're slightly afraid of girls and shy around them, so I wanted to see how….*giggle* much you are. I got to say, that was more tame than I anticipated. I'm slightly disappointed to be honest." Sanae explained.

Chiro blushed madly and pouted at the girl as he slowly got up. As the girl was still laughing about the whole situation, Chiro reflected on how mild his reaction was as well. Normally, his reaction would be far more hysterical and spontaneous, but it wasn't. He attributed his new reaction to his interactions with Vivi and Carla from the other day.

 _I guess constantly being close to the both of them must have diminished my anxiety around girls._ Chiro thought to himself. His thoughts tracked back to how he and Vivi were hugging the previous night because of her fright of the thunderstorm, and he blushed madly from the memory of it.

He could still feel the lingering sensation of her body warmth on his, but shook his head and refocused his attention to Sanae as she got up from the ground.

"Awww, there's no need to glare at me, Chiro. I'm just satisfying my curiosity. After all, I'm an innocent, young, cute girl who has a large sense of wonder."

Chiro deadpanned, "Self-indulgence has no bounds, huh? You and I are the same age. You're not young enough to justify that."

Sanae pouted. "Well, I'm still young, regardless. And 'self-indulgence'? Are you implying that I'm not cute?"

Chiro shook his head frantically while blushing as he realized that he insulted her.

"N-N-N-No, no, I'm not saying that at all. I t-think you're cute….really cute." Chiro said with a slightly timid tone and a deep blush. It was difficult to discern since they were under his hat, but the color of his tentacles shifted from their naturally white color to a light pink.

Sanae blushed from the compliment and pressed her index fingers together out of embarrassment.

"R-Really? Thanks Chiro," Sanae beamed, "Oh, I almost forgot, Marie and Callie are waiting for you in their studio. We better meet with them before they grow impatient….. and get slightly violent."

Chiro nodded in response as he collected himself from the little exchange that just occurred between him and Sanae. Chiro exhaled softly to finally calm himself before walking toward the door Sanae exited from earlier, only to be intercepted by the girl instead.

"Ah, ah, ah, you're not going off in there on your own, Chiro. If the security guards see you wandering around in there without a proper escort, like me, you'll be thrown out immediately," Sanae said smugly with a smile as she hugged Chiro's arm in her own, "But don't worry…I'll stay close so that can problem be averted."

Stating that Chiro was blushing intensely would be an understatement in every regard. The girl apparently loves to invade his personal space and raise his embarrassment levels beyond anything he thought could be imaginable.

Despite being wary of girls, he was still a boy after all and was attracted to them – this was obvious considering how intently he shamelessly stared at Vivi's butt - and he didn't entirely mind a cute girl being so close to him like this. However, for her to do so immediately after getting truly acquainted with him was exceedingly surprising and nerve-wrecking for the poor kid.

Sanae's hold on his arm tightened as to say they should go, and Chiro didn't have the energy to protest to her holding on to him, so he complied reluctantly and walked in the secret door to the famous Squid Sister's studio.

"STAY FRESH!" Callie and Marie exclaimed cheerfully as they concluded their periodic broadcast for Turf Wars and Ranked Battles. After the light on the camera recording them deactivated, both the girls heaved a sigh of relief as they tiredly walked to their respective chairs and rested their heads on their hands.

"Ugh…..why do we have to work today? Splatfest is in three days, and we have to prepare to sing for 24 hours straight. We need time to prepare for that." Callie whined as she removed a large lollypop from the jar on the small table between them and slowly starting sucking on it.

Marie pinched her temples in exasperation from her cousin's whining. "Callie…..this is the fourth Splatfest we've done this month; we always do this. You should be accustomed to this by now. Be glad that we announced the topic to our restless fans."

Callie sighed, "Sorry, I know. It just gets exhausting at times, and the only thing I can do is complain."

"All you ever do is complain. Just sip your gross Lemon Tea and calm down." Marie spat spitefully while taking a sip of her Milk Tea.

Callie furrowed her brows irritably at Marie.

"Stop calling it gross. It's the most delectable beverage ever created in the history of the world. Also, that fact will be further validated when my team wins Splatfest."

Marie scoffed, "Pleeeaaaaseeee, my team will win."

"Yeah, right. At least my team has an ink color already incorporated in Splatfest. You don't have one so….ha!" Callie bellowed excitedly as she childishly pointed at Marie conceitedly.

"Shut up. Wait till Agent 3 brings Chiro back here, and my team will have the most unique color in Splatfest.

Callie growled before gasping in realization.

"Now that you mention it, where are Agent 3 and Chiro? They should have been here by now."

"Oh, yeah, where are they? Do you think something happened to them?"

The two girls cupped their chins in their hands as they contemplated over possible things that could have happened before they both simultaneously groaned.

"Agent 3…I think she might be doing something with Chiro."

Marie sighed.

"Man, I forgot…..Agent 3 is prone to forgetting things we ask of her…"

"And she might also be flirting with Chiro." Callie said.

"Yeah…..she did say after we left the meeting that she thought Chiro was really cute. I don't blame her for making her own advances, but now's not the time for that." Marie sighed.

"Not the time for what?"

Marie and Callie turned to see Chiro coming in with Sanae wrapping her arms around his arm.

Both of them groaned internally after ascertaining that their speculation was true and seeing the white haired boy blushing like mad with a giggling Sanae on him.

"Not the time to be flirting with a boy, Agent 3. We need to complete all the preparations for the Splatfest before we officially announce the teams. At the moment, we're way behind schedule in regards to that, and we can tell our fans are getting a little aggravated about being left in the dark for so long." Marie chastised the fourteen-year-old girl while jumping out of her chair.

Sanae reluctantly released her clutch on chiro's arm and crossed her arms while lightly sneering at the older girls.

"Well, that's the fault of both of you. If you two weren't procrastinating so much by goofing around so much, you would have already decided upon a topic weeks ago and wouldn't be having this problem." Sanae triumphantly reminded the two with a smile.

Callie and Marie groaned at her reminder of their negligence and sighed in defeat rather than retorting.

"Fine, you're right. We should have focusing more on the Splatfest, but come on; I was practicing on getting my driver's license. Isn't that a sufficient reason?" Callie whined to the girl.

Sanae and Marie slumped their shoulders in exasperation and stared incredulously at the black haired girl.

"Callie…you've failed your driving test _thirty_ times already. That's no longer an excuse." Marie stated bluntly to her cousin as Sanae nodded in agreement.

Callie pouted furiously at the two as a faint blush of embarrassment graced her cheeks

"I know I can pass that stupid test. It's just that the driving instructors have it out for me!" Callie yelled defensively.

"No….they just know how dangerous it would be for society and all other drivers for you to be on the roads now. You need to practice more." Marie teased.

"My driving isn't that bad! I'm improving every time."

"Callie…you drove into a restaurant last time, and the time before that you drove into Inkopolis Tower and rendered Turf Wars unplayable for a week. Trust me when I say that I'm glad you don't have a license." Sanae commented.

Callie appeared to be on the verge of tears from the constant belittlement of her self-proclaimed 'impeccable' driving skills.

"Come on," Callie whined before she directed her attention to Chiro, "Chiro, you have faith in me, right?"

Unfortunately for the pop star, Chiro was preoccupied with not falling into a fit of uproarious laughter.

"Lame!" Chiro managed to say as he stifled his laughter by covering his mouth with his hand.

"EHHHHHHHH?!" Callie exclaimed sadly.

"I'm sorry, Callie…but thirty times? I may not know many things, but even I understand is just so sad." Chiro chuckled as he grabbed his sides from letting his laughter out.

"Chiro, you meanie! I thought you were the type that was sensitive to other's feelings!" Callie wailed at the younger boy.

Chiro's laughter must have been severely contagious since Marie and Sanae joined the young boy in his hysterical fit of laughter towards Callie's misfortune.

"I like him a lot already." Marie giggled as she grabbed her sides from her laugher.

"I HATE ALL OF YOU!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA, I'm sorry Callie. I just couldn't resist laughing with him," Marie placed a comforting hand on her cousin's shoulder while still smirking, "Hey, I'm sure you'll pass…someday, but not soon that's for sure." She whispered that last part of her sentence.

Callie sniffled, "Forget you. Let's just get Chiro's ink incorporated into the system and get the rest of our plans for today over with."

Callie stomped out of the studio with a huff while glaring at the other three Inklings in the room, especially towards Sanae and Chiro.

"Well, that was fun, but she's right. Let's get Chiro's white stuff in the system so we can mass produce it for all our boy and girl fans." Marie innocently remarked as she stride happily out the studio to catch up with Callie. The innuendo completely passes over this one, huh?

Chiro and Sanae stood alone in the studio uncomfortably for a few moments before Chiro broke the silence.

"Um….was it just me, or did that sound…weird? Is that why my hair color attracts a lot of attention?" Chiro asked Sanae.

"N-No, it wasn't just you, but it doesn't matter. Half the time she doesn't really think before she speaks, which results in stuff like that. Anyway, we should follow them. I want to see your white ink for myself to be honest."

Sanae eagerly extended her arm out and grabbed Chiro by the hand before sprinting out to catch up with Callie and Marie with Chiro right behind her. Chiro's blush returned to his face. As the two were running down the large studio past other workers walking by, he could only focus on how embarrassing it was that he was technically holding hands with Sanae. Chiro couldn't help but relish in how warm and comforting her firm, yet gentle grasp felt on his hand.

Other than trying to keep up with her pace, Chiro had to constantly wipe away the _**red**_ ink that was slowly trickling out of his nose from the excess ink (blood?) rising to his cheeks as they headed to a room designated as the 'Technician Room'.

From there, Marie and Callie had carefully instructed Chiro to turn into his squid from and naturally, or rather forcibly, secrete his white ink into a small canister. After a few minutes of straining to get all of the white ink he had in him out into the jar, Callie and Marie contently nodded before sealing it and relinquishing it to the supervising technician to add to the system. Chiro eyed the man oddly before Sanae had explained that they required only a small sample of his ink to inject into the servers to replicate, subsequently mass-producing, a large supply of it to be used exclusively for the Splatfest.

"Okay, now that that's over with, we need to hurry to the recording studio for rehearsal. Our producer is going to be absolutely livid if we arrive late again." Marie commented.

"It's 9:55; you two are supposed to be there in five minutes." Sanae stated as she referred to the clock on her phone.

Marie gasped, "Really?! We need to hurry!"

Callie nodded in agreement. "Yeah, especially since we're arriving close to the deadline for our new album to be released…..and we've only recorded one out of the fifteen songs, too." Callie nervously chuckled while scratching her cheek with her finger.

 _HOW IRRESPONSIBLE ARE THESE TWO_?! Chiro internally screamed to himself.

"Again? Haven't you two learned from your previous mistakes?" Sanae scolded the two older girls.

"Well…..regardless of how angry he gets with us, he immediately dismisses our actions and forgives us. After all, we are his nieces. He can't stay mad at us for long." Callie uttered with excessive confidence and smugness.

"His constant spoiling of you two is the reason why the both of you have grown to be so irresponsible." Sanae groaned as he pinched her temples.

"Oh, calm down, Agent 3. Don't fret over such little things." Callie said calmly while making her way to the exit of the room.

Sanae growled, "This isn't what I would regard as a 'little thing'. This is me expressing worry over your career!"

"….And we love you for being so worried over us," Marie said lovingly before shifting her attention to Chiro, "Oh, before I forget, I have a gift for you, Chiro."

Chiro looked at her with curiosity as she pulled out a white shirt and presented it to him.

"Um…..what's that?"

"A Splatfest Tee. Callie and I designed the logos for each team in the Splatfest. Whichever side Inklings choose, they're gifted with a Tee that is the color of their respective side with an image of their side's logo. Of course, Milk Tea has a white Splatfest Tee while Lemon Tea has a gross yellow color." Marie explained as she relinquished the shirt to him, which he gratefully accepted.

"I HEARD THAT!" Callie screamed from the other side of the room.

Marie giggled from her cousin's childish behavior.

"Well, I guess I should go, too. Thanks for coming again, Chiro, and I'm grateful you chose the most ideal side for this Splatfest." Marie winked at him before leisurely walking by.

"It was no problem at all. If you need anything else, call me. I'd be happy to assist you with anything." Chiro said happily.

"Oh, there's another thing that slipped my mind." Marie said in realization.

Chiro raised his brows in interest before his mind went instantaneously blank from what Marie did next.

Marie had planted a quick, but tender kiss on his cheek.

Sanae gasped in shock and slight anger from her action while Chiro's entire body went red from embarrassment and collapsed to the floor.

Marie giggled slyly and winked at Chiro, "Consider that a token of my gratitude, too. See you later, Chiro."

 _I WAS KISSED BY A GIRL!_ Chiro exclaimed in his head.

Before Chiro could recover from the sudden display of affection, Callie and Marie had departed almost immediately, leaving only Sanae and Chiro left in the room.

"How long do you intend to stay down there?" Sanae asked with a slight bitter tone accompanying her voice. She may have been upset about how Marie had given him a kiss before she did.

Chiro regained his bearings and stumbled up on his feet. Chiro shook his head to alleviate the lingering shock and clasped his hand around the cheek Marie had just pecked.

"So, that's what it feels like to be kissed by girl? That felt…nice." Chiro sighed happily while seeming to be going into a little trance.

Sanae directed an annoyed groan toward him while crossing her arms. Chiro returned to reality and retracted away from the girl next to him that seemed to be giving off a menacing aura.

"A-Are you mad, S-Sanae?" Chiro stuttered in fright.

"Hmph, no…..I'm perfectly fine." Sanae grumbled.

"Oh, okay," Chiro said as he pulled out his phone and screamed," AHHHHHH, IT'S ALREADY 10:10! I'M LATE!"

Sanae jumped from his abrupt outburst.

"What's wrong?"

"I was supposed to be at Inkopolis Tower ten minutes ago. Carla and Vivi are going to kill me."

"Vivi?"

Chiro looked towards Sanae. "Yeah, you know the girl sitting next to me the other day. She's Carla's younger sister."

Sanae stared blankly at him. "I know who she is, Chiro. She's my best friend after all."

"Really?"

Sanae nodded in affirmation. "Yep. She may as well be like my sister. That's how close we are to each other," Sanae said happily, "Anyway, what are you supposed to meet her for?"

"She said she wanted to help me level up before Splatfest and get acquainted with the different variety of weapons and playstyles other Inklings use to play effectively. Though, that might not happen since I'm late, and she and Carla might try to end me." Chiro explained with some worry in his voice.

Sanae chuckled, "Yeah, Carla and Vivi have always been a little aggressive, but you get used to it and work around it….unless you're the victim, in which case you're screwed."

Chiro's shoulders slumped in sadness. "Thanks, Sanae."

"No problem. Hey, I have nothing to do for a while. Can I come along and play with you three?"

Chiro looked at her in surprise. "Um….sure why not. I don't see any problem arising from playing with you as well."

 **Oh, how wrong he is going to be.**

Sanae beamed with joy, "Great! Besides, I can offer some of my own advice, too."

"Oh, how so?"

Sanae stared at him incredulously and sighed, "Chiro, I'm the Fourth Seat of the Elite 10. I think I can offer some substantial advice to a noob like you."

"Wow…thanks for the compliment. Anyway, can we go now? I feel that every minute that I'm late, it's another minute of torture Vivi and Carla will add to my suffering."

Sanae gave him a look of pity. "Oh…..they've already instilled that much fear in you already, huh? Yeah, I think it's best for you if we left now."

Sanae took it upon herself to close the distance between them, and hugged Chiro's arm close to her body again and smiled seductively.

"So…..let's go." Sanae whispered in his ear.

Chiro couldn't help but feel extremely flustered from being so close to her again, and to intensify the situation, he could feel two soft things pressing closer and closer to his arm.

"Is something wrong?"

Chiro couldn't muster the energy to say anything. His body was hot from the adrenaline and her body heat, his tentacles were dark pink now under his hat, felt a fuzzy sensation in his stomach, and to top it all off, her breasts were on his arm, so all he could was shake his head to avoid further talking.

* * *

"Where the squid is he?" Vivi questioned to herself in an aggravated manner. Vivi was standing alone at the base of Inkopolis Tower while impatiently tapping her foot and staring out into the plaza to see if she could see Chiro.

 _The only kid with white hair, and I'm having trouble finding that._ She grumbled in her head.

Vivi had arrived ten minutes early to their scheduled meeting time and was uncomfortably shifting her weight from one leg to the other. Chiro had said that this was a date, and when those words left his mouth, Vivi couldn't suppress the overwhelming amount of euphoric emotions that came to her mind. Yes, she was just helping him level up in Turf Wars, but she was thinking of time she could be close to him in between matches, at lunch, and possibly at dinner, too.

Vivi shuddered in delight at the memory of the food he made the previous night. The flavor was beyond anything she has ever eaten before. She licked her lips a little from the lingering taste that was still in her mouth. Maybe she could get him to make something else for just her and him again later.

She had rushed to take care of all her own hygienic needs such as showering, brushing her teeth, cleaning her face, and other more private needs for girls to get ready ahead of time. Carla had asked her why she was doing all those things in such an absurdly fast manner, but when Vivi relayed what Chiro said before she left his apartment, Carla squealed in delight and helped her with other things.

Carla was suggested that she wear different clothes that accentuated her figure and made her look cuter, but Vivi chose not to do that. All of her other clothes were more baggy and seemed less appealing in her opinion if she was trying to impress Chiro, so she was wearing her black trail boots and Zekko Hoodie. However, she did decide to wear her Squidvader Cap.

When she got to the base of the tower, she was nervous, but now that it was twenty minutes after 10:00 AM, she was pissed.

"Did he forget? I was perfectly coherent about meeting at 10:00," Vivi said irritably, "I go out of my way to offer my help, and he's late…..I swear when I see that squid, I'll…I'll…..I don't even know what I can do. I like him too much to cause him any harm now!" Vivi threw herself into fit before she caught sight of two figures approaching her and felt her heart sink a little.

She saw Chiro waving to her with a smile that melted her heart a little on his face, but most of her attention was on her best friend that had her arms wrapped her crush's arm, and she could see Chiro wasn't too uncomfortable with it either. Incidentally, other Inklings were gawking at the sight of the two. Many of them were whispering about seeing the fourth best player in Inkopolis getting intimate with a boy. Others, mainly girls, were expressing their jealousy about how Sanae had a cute boy for herself, which only angered Vivi as a result.

"Hey, Vivi, I'm really sorry for being late. I had to help Marie with the preparations for Splatfest, and it took longer than I anticipated. I hope you're not too upset at me." Chiro said apologetically.

Vivi didn't answer.

"Vivi?"

No answer.

Chiro waved his hand in front of her face and yelled, "VIVI!"

Said girl realized she was in a daze and gasped when she came to.

"Oh, sorry, Chiro," Vivi lightly chuckled while sheepishly rubbing the back of her head, "It's fine….I wasn't waiting that long anyway."

She turned to Sanae.

"Sanae, what are you doing here? I thought you would be busy with Callie and Marie."

The green haired girl released her grasp on Chiro's arm and instead went up to her and tightly embraced the turquoise haired girl.

Vivi sighed happily and reciprocated the action.

"Yeah, yeah, it's great to see you, too, San." Vivi said as she addressed her friend by her given nickname.

"You too, oh, and to answer your question, Callie and Marie are going to be busy with recoding songs for their new album, so there wouldn't be much for me to do. Chiro here mentioned you and Carla were going to be helping him with leveling up, and I asked if I could come along, and he said yes. I hope you don't mind." Sanae explained.

Vivi sighed. Normally, she wouldn't mind since she loves Sanae like a sister and wouldn't think twice about spending time with her, but under these circumstances, she does. She wanted to spend as much time as possible with Chiro alone without too much interference, but now that isn't happening. And to make matters worse, Sanae appeared to be interested in Chiro as well, and Vivi wasn't too fond of possibly having to deal with competition now for Chiro.

She looked to the boy who was preoccupied with looking around the plaza absentmindedly with an innocent look on his face and oblivious to her slight discomfort. She couldn't help but blush at how cute he looked with his new hat, but also felt a little sad about not being able to see his hair. Yes, she did find the color of his hair weird initially, but she grew to actually loving it instead.

She turned back to her friend and sighed, "No, I don't mind."

Sanae grinned. "Great. Where's Carla by the way?"

Vivi sneered. "She decided to ditch us and go on a date with the pervert."

Chiro looked back to her. "The 'pervert'? Who do you mean?"

"I'm talking about Kori. Before Carla and I left our apartment, she received a text from him asking her out on a date. As you can tell from her absence, she accepted his request and left me to come here alone."

Sanae's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? I didn't think Kori would be Carla's type."

"Well, unfortunately, he is, and now we're down a player for our team. Plus, I don't want to play with a random since I'm already going to be playing with an absolute noob." Vivi said a little more spitefully than she wanted.

Chiro looked away with some hurt in his eyes. Vivi noticed the change in his expression and immediately regretted saying what she said.

"Don't worry about it, Vivi. I think Momo isn't doing anything, so I'll call her and see if she wants to play with us three and help Chiro here." Sanae offered as she immediately pulled her phone out and called Momo. As Sanae was occupied with contacting the girl, Chiro and Vivi were left with each other.

"So…..when did you get so close to Sanae?" Vivi inquired.

Chiro was startled by the question and raised his hands almost defensively.

"I…I wouldn't say we're really close. It's just that she…." Chiro had to stop and think about his relationship with her, "She just…..came on strong, and she's really friendly. I'll be honest, I think she likes to tease me a lot, but overall she's nice and I like her."

' _Like her'?_ Vivi panicked a little over that.

"Oh…..I see." Vivi murmured.

"Vivi….are you okay. You seem a little upset." Chiro asked worriedly.

Vivi was upset, but she didn't want Chiro to see that side of her again and put on a fake smile.

"No, I'm perfectly fine."

Chiro eyed her skeptically before he shrugged his shoulders and smiled at her, as if to say he believed her. Sanae had deactivated her phone and returned to standing near the two.

"Okay, Momo said she'll be here in a couple minutes, so in the meantime…" She looked at Chiro up-and-down, "We need to get you some fresh gear, Chiro."

"Huh?"

"You're clothes….they're just so…..not fresh." Sanae said tentatively.

Chiro rubbed at his clothes and gave the girl a questionable look. "What's wrong with my clothes? They work fine with me."

"Actually…." Vivi interjected. Chiro flicked his head toward her.

"….Considering your skill of dual wielding weapons, the clothes you're wearing now are not very effective and inadequate for most situations."

"How so?"

"You need gear that has Ink Saver (Main) as the main ability because your dual wielding not only doubles your ink consumption, but will put you in very compromising situations when you run out of ink and have an enemy or multiple enemies coming at you. You're gear now can't help you. For instance your Green Zip Hoodie; the main ability on it is Special Duration Up. To me, extending the duration of your use of your weapon's equipped special weapon is unnecessary. From my experience, the effect of that particular ability is virtually useless because it only extends it by 1 to 2 seconds and by that time if you haven't really done anything or splatted the enemy once it's over, then you're not that good and haven't contributed anything to your team." Sanae commented.

Vivi nodded in agreement with her friends words and spoke up herself, "Yeah, and your sandals…..I like them but as of now, we really don't know what the main ability of you sandals, and I couldn't really deduce what it could be from watching your match with the pervert yesterday. We might need to consult Crusty Sean about your sandals since he specializes in footwear."

Chiro furrowed his brows with a quizzical look adorning his face. Seeing his expression, Vivi quelled his question by stating that Crust Sean is a tall prawn that runs Shrimp Kicks, the only distributor and seller of all things regarding footwear.

"Oh…..okay. Any more criticism?" Chiro asked begrudgingly while still trying to comprehend what Vivi was referring to as 'abilities'.

"Yes," Sanae said while Chiro groaned in response, "Your Sporty Bobble hat isn't useful either, so you should get something else."

Chiro placed a firm grip on his hat and stood in an almost defensive manner.

"This hat stays where it is on my head. Tsuki gave this to me as a gift, and I have no intention of not wearing the only gift she's given me in the last two years." Chiro proclaimed sternly, which caught both the girls by surprise.

From what they have seen, Chiro has only displayed a more reserved and shy attitude, so seeing him behave this way was nothing short of astonishing, and slightly attractive, to them.

Sanae lowered her eyes in apologetically. "I'm sorry."

Chiro gasped when he saw how sad Sanae looked and immediately started to panic.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, Sanae. Please don't cry." Chiro said frantically as he placed his hands gently on her shoulders, which shocked Vivi significantly. However, Sanae only chuckled a little from his apology.

"Chiro, it's fine. I'm not going to cry from you being a little stern. Besides, I find that side of you to be hot too, so I don't mind if you do that every once in a while." Sanae said with mischievous smile as she poked him on the nose.

Chiro blushed in response while Vivi growled slightly in annoyance from that.

"Alright, let's just hurry up and buy him some new gear before Momo shows up." Vivi grumbled while already making her way to Jelly Fresh. Chiro was taken aback by how fast she moved and essentially had to run to catch up with her. The same for Sanae.

The minor shopping venture turned to be quite a big learning experience for Chiro. He learned about the diverse array of gear that was available for him to purchase and their own respective abilities and capacity to carry different sub abilities. Each gear required a specified number of points to be leveled to obtain a random sub ability, and the amount of points necessary to level a piece of gear up was dependent on whether it a one-star, two-star, or three-star rated gear. He learned that his Green Zip Hoodie was only a two-star piece of gear, which meant it can only possess two sub abilities. The jellyfish, Jelonzo, had taken a liking to Chiro and given him a Dark Urban Vest half-off from the original 10,000 Gold Coins price. Chiro was informed that the main ability on it was Cold Blooded, an ability that reduces the duration of position-tracking attacks. He liked the sound of that ability and purchased it instantaneously.

Afterwards, Chiro, Vivi, and Sanae went over to Shrimp Kicks to purchase new footwear. Vivi had asked the owner, Crusty Sean, to examine Chiro's sandals for their main ability and see if he should buy a new pair of kicks. Shockingly, Crusty Sean had gone into something almost like a panic attack as he was examining them. He explained that Chiro was wearing an extremely rare, six-star pair of kicks with Stealth Jump as the main ability. Six sub abilities can be on his sandals, and Crusty Sean explained that he already had six abilities on them: three Ink Savers (Main) and three Run Speed Ups.

Vivi's and Sanae's eyes twitched in minor agitation since he had something that advantageous without them knowing about it, but they calmed down eventually and dragged him over to Cooler Heads. They respected his wish to keep his Sporty Bobble Hat on, so they were only bringing him there to assess if he had more slots for sub abilities on it since it was Tsuki that gave it him after all.

And it did. It had three sub ability slots on it, but Chiro asked how that was possible since it was only a one-star headgear. Vivi and Sanae explained that you can upgrade the gear by consulting a Sea Urchin like man named Spike down the alley by the café. Also, they emphasized how it's best to only go to him when you only want more slots, and that you can either use 1 Super Sea Snail or 30,000 Gold Coins to add one slot to your gear.

While at Cooler Heads, he met the manager Annie, a cute anemone-haired like girl with a clown fish named Moe in her hair. He came to like Annie, but Chiro immediately decided that he disliked Moe.

Moe continued mocking him incessantly and called him names that were based on the sexual innuendo's around Chiro's white hair, which earned a blush from Vivi, Sanae, and even Annie.

Lastly, Chiro managed to sneak away from the girls briefly as they were scolding Moe to see Sheldon at Ammo Knights. Of course, Sheldon welcomed his 'boss' with open arms and spoke to him about his ability to dual wield weapons.

"How do you know about that?" Chiro inquired.

"I observed your match with Kori Cooler when it was being displayed on the large monitor the other day. I must I am quite impressed with you performance boss. I've never anything like that before." Sheldon praised Chiro.

Chiro couldn't help but smile gleefully from the compliment and bowed in appreciation.

"Thanks, Sheldon. Apparently, no one has, and the Inklings I faced yesterday even accused me of cheating, but Kori said it wasn't against the rules to use two weapons of the same type. Is that true? I don't want to be a cheater."

"Well, you need not be concerned over such a matter. Out of curiosity, I checked the official rules for Turf Wars, and he was correct."

Chiro exhaled a sigh of relief.

"Not only that, it seems you're not restricted to using two weapons of the same type. That means you can utilize a combination of two different weapons of the same class, or use two separate classes simultaneously, but the latter seems a little overwhelming, though." Sheldon said as he imagined how exhausting and ridiculous it might be for Chiro to use a Roller and a Charger at the same time.

"Really? That's sounds phenomenal. Anyway, other than asking you if my dual wielding was allowed, I wanted to know what other weapon you would recommend I use with the Splattershot Jr. you gave me." Chiro revealed.

An enormous smile adorned Sheldon's face. The man adored talking about the specifications for weapons and recommending them to new players.

"I'd be happy to help. Now, what would be good for you at your level?" Sheldon asked to himself as he was scanning the wall of weapons at the back of his shop.

Chiro groaned at the reminder of his low level. Chiro may currently consider Turf Wars to be a hobby at best, but he still didn't like being perceived funny based on his level.

"Oh, here, this might be the perfect weapon for you, Boss." Sheldon claimed confidently as he presented Chiro a Tentatek Splattershot. Chiro slowly accepted the weapon and eyed it curiously.

"Why would you recommend this?"

"The Tentatek Splattershot is the most versatile weapon in its class, maybe even out of all the weapons. The fire rate is decent and the range is well praised as well. It's great for close-quarter-combat to medium ranged engagements because of it always being a three shot splat weapon."

"What about long-ranged engagements." Chiro asked with the love and desire to learn about weapons he inherited from his mother emerging. At times, Chiro's mother had asked him to test some of the weapons they were making because of how bored Chiro seemed to be when he was confined inside with nothing to do. She may have been overly protective of him, but she saw no harm in him shooting a weapon for a short amount of time. Besides, she only let him use the Splattershot Jr. and nothing else, so it was a onetime deal.

"The Tentatek Splattershot's special weapon, the Inkzooka, is perfect for long-ranged fights, especially against Chargers."

"Chargers?"

"Chargers have a build-up time to a powerful blast that can take enemies out immediately within a long range. They're really powerful, and it's difficult for most players to get even close enough to where they're within range to splat them, so the Inkzooka is the perfect thing for you to use. Especially if you use this with the Bubbler special from your Splattershot Jr." Sheldon explained.

"Oh, yeah, Kori was using a charger the other day. He was really good with it."

"Yep, he's one of the best Charger users I've ever seen. So do you want the weapon, or would you like something else?"

"No, for now, this sounds like it would work for me. How much for it?"

Sheldon shook his head with a smile.

"This one's on the house, too. Besides, I'm not supposed to be giving this to you until you're level 4, but I'm making an exception for you. If you feel like this isn't right and want to pay me, pay me back by playing well in Turf Wars."

Chiro frowned a little. He doesn't like things being bought for him, but he couldn't be rude and decline Sheldon's generosity, so he resigned to getting a free gun and thanked the man and left. As he exited the shop, Vivi and Sanae had walked out of Cooler Heads with their new purchases and looked around the plaza, probably looking for him since he left without saying anything.

They caught sight of him outside Ammo Knights and whined about him leaving without saying a word. Chiro apologized to the two excessively before being interrupted by Momo.

"Hey, you three." Momo hollered as she ran toward the three while waving her arm.

"Hey, Momo. I'm glad you could make it. Sorry for calling you on such short notice." Sanae apologized to the dark blue haired girl.

Chiro eyed Momo's vest and hat and realized he was wearing the exact same ones as she was. Momo seemed to notice this too and gave him a thumbs up before looking back at Sanae.

Momo flicked her hand dismissively. "Oh, it's no problem at all. I'm glad to play with you after such a long time since you've been busy with Callie and Marie," Momo said before looking at Vivi and Chiro, "Hey, it's nice to see you two again. You guys ready to play some Turf Wars and level up?"

All three nodded eagerly.

"You know. I want to get to level 50 quick and be an S+ in Ranked Battles." Sanae shot a fist up in the air.

"Then let's go." Momo said happily. Vivi and Sanae giggled as they ran to the entrance to Inkopolis Tower. Chiro was about to follow suit before being intercepted by Momo. He looked at her questioningly before Momo had gotten out a book lined in pink and handed it to him.

"Tsuki asked me to buy this for you as a favor. I don't know why, but I think it's adorable. Innocence is unparalleled in that regard." Momo cooed as she rubbed Chiro's head and ran off to catch up with Vivi and Sanae.

Chiro lightly blushed from her touch before turning over the book to see the title. He looked at the title strangely and read it multiple times to see if his eyes weren't making him see things.

The book was title _Understanding Girls._

Chiro's eyes twitched in shock before he put the small book in his vest's pocket with a blush on his face.

"Sis…why the heck did you ask her to buy this for me? I'm perfectly fine with understanding girls." Chiro mumbled before running to catch up with the others.

The four of them had equipped their weapons for the upcoming matches they'll be playing, and readily stood on the start pad and transformed into their squid forms. In a flash, all the Inklings participating in the match were transported to Walleye Warehouse.

* * *

Like before, Chiro and his team spawned on the home base on the map, and Chiro was glad that all of them spawned this time, too. Chiro and his team all had yellow hair while the opposing team had pink hair. From where he was standing, Chiro could see all the inklings on the opposing team, one girl and three boys, trembling in their shoes.

Chiro guessed that facing two members of the Elite 10 would be very intimidating, and in addition to that, they're also facing two Inklings that were nominated to be in the Elite 10 as well, even though that wasn't publicly announced, so…..yeah, he could understand why they were shaking even though he didn't care much about it.

Vivi was using the Inkbrush Nouveau. Sanae appeared to be using the Hero Shot Replica, which complemented her gear set, and Momo had the Custom E-Liter 3K equipped. Chiro still felt a little cheap since we was wielding the Tentatek Splattershot and Splattershot Jr. but he pushed the thought to the back of his mind.

The timer started counting down.

5…4…3…2…..1…GO!

Vivi and Sanae were quick to ink the surrounding area around the base and swiftly swam off towards the center of the map. Momo charged her weapon and fired, leaving a long ink trail that lead directly to the middle of the map and swam in it. Chiro couldn't even fire his own weapons as he stood there shocked at how fast all three of them moved….and only five seconds passed by. Chiro couldn't help but look toward the other team and saw they were just as shocked as he was from how quick they were. Chiro shrugged it off and consulted his map to see any areas that weren't inked yet.

From what he could see, the path to the left was left uncovered, and he quickly turned into his squid form and swam toward that section.

He arrived to that area quickly and began shooting out his ink over the floor, leaving no spot uncovered.

"Chiro!" He heard someone call to him. He turned around and saw Momo kneeling on top of crates situated in the middle. She was splatting the opposing inklings with absolute ease.

"Yeah?!"

"You don't have to ink every little section of the map. Just ink a decent portion of it and proceed to any other areas without ink or covered by enemy ink, alright?"

"Got it!" Chiro responded. Chiro ran over a grate platform and was about to jump down to the lower level, but his feet caught the lip of the grate, and he frantically waved his arms as he fell down to the first floor.

Chiro quickly closed his eyes and prepared for the impact with the floor.

"Umph!"

The landing wasn't as bad as he was expecting. Actually, he didn't feel anything at all. Chiro felt that he landed on something soft, and was grateful that whatever it was broke his fall….for only a second.

When Chiro raised his head, his whole face went red when realized he had landed on top of Sanae. Sanae had opened her eyes at the same time and was blushing as well, but had a sly smirk on her face.

"Chiro…..this isn't really the appropriate time be doing stuff like this." Sanae said meekly with a smile.

Chiro screamed as he frantically got off of the girl and bowed apologetically.

"AHHHHH, I'm so sorry, Sanae!" Chiro apologized.

"It's fine….don't worry about it Chiro." Sanae giggled as she bent down to grab her Hero Shot behind her. For the second time in the last two days, Chiro had looked up at the same time as a girl bent down to retrieve something and had a perfect view of Sanae's butt this time. He felt mixed feelings of shame and happiness as he was thrown into a trance – similar to the one he was in when he disgracefully stared at Vivi's the previous day.

Time felt as though it was going by slowly for Chiro again, but for Sanae, the girl quickly grabbed her weapon and stood back up.

"You ready to continue?" Sanae asked.

"I think I inked a little." Chiro said in almost a whisper.

Sanae, still smiling, raised her eyebrow and said, "Well, that's what you're supposed to be doing, silly."

Sanae focused again on inking turf and was out of sight before Chiro came back to reality.

"Huh, oh, right, I'm supposed to be…...inking." Chiro started inking turf too.

Unbeknownst to him, Vivi had witnessed the entire exchange off in the distance and growled in annoyance at how close Chiro was getting with Sanae.

"Damn it, San," Vivi sneered as she violently splatted an enemy squid with quick and painful hits, "Is Chiro starting to get more interested in her?"

Vivi felt a tears accumulating in her eyes, but she wiped them away almost as soon as they were forming and concentrated on winning the match.

The match was over rather quickly with them winning with a 97.0% to 2% score. The opposing team were hyperventilating to help alleviate their exhaustion and crying because they lost quite horribly. For the next three hours, Chiro and his team were almost effortlessly winning all of their matches in Turf Wars, and it wasn't too long either until Chiro reached rank 10 and could play in Ranked Battles to earn more experience.

With the new squad feature implemented into the system, the four of them took advantage of it and started playing against other squads as well. Sanae and Momo were both A+ ranked players while Vivi was at her previously stated B+ rank. Chiro was merely a C- ranked player since he just started, but it didn't stay with him for long. Chiro was demonstrating an impressive and unprecedented rate of improvement after each game. Thanks to the advice of all three girls he was with, Chiro was playing at a level almost on par with highly-skilled players.

However, he still couldn't get over his clumsiness at times during battles. He continually tripped over ledges and platforms, and sometimes, he kept landing on either Sanae or Vivi. Of course, he wasn't doing it intentionally, but regardless, the girls started to think he was after the eighth time.

Vivi was always rendered flustered and thought Chiro was trying to get intimate during battle, but he always immediately got off of her and apologized, which made the girl sad…..even though she didn't want to openly admit it.

Sanae on the other hand, while also thinking he was trying to get intimate, was more assertive and open with what she was thinking. She would grab Chiro's head with her tentacles and bring him closer and gently whisper, "Are you trying to say you want to be the dominant one at night? I don't mind, but we should wait until we're older before doing things like this, okay? We're only fourteen after all."

Chiro never fully understood what she meant by that. Momo seemed to always be around when the incidents happened and would always yell, "No love-making on the battlefield, you two."

That was how Chiro spent the next two days preparing for Splatfest. Vivi had managed to level up to an A+ rank and leveled up to level 34, while Sanae and Momo achieved the S+ rank and level 35 and level 34, respectively. Chiro felt happy to be a B+ rank and a level 22. Throughout his training, he had unknowingly started growing a reputation because of his unique skill and fast leveling progress. Chiro wasn't too fond of all the unwanted attention, but dealt with it the times in-between training because Tsuki had told him that he should be happy that he was becoming more well-known.

Soon, the dawn of Friday morning soon arrived, and the time for his evaluation along with Vivi's was almost upon them.

* * *

 **Please Review and thanks for reading.**


	9. Splatfest: Milk Tea v Lemon Tea

**Hello, everyone. First and foremost, I really want to apologize for not updating the story within the past five months. To be quite honest, I had lost my passion to continue this story for quite some time, so I didn't really commence typing this chapter until mid-December when my passion was rekindled. Now, I didn't update this story until now because of the sheer fact of how overwhelming and extensive this chapter was to type. This chapter took almost 46 pages to complete – 15 pages longer than the previous chapter. This is currently my longest chapter, but I'll try to refrain from creating such long chapters so I can try to update the story more frequently. I'm sorry if the end seems rather rushed, but I wanted to update the story as soon as possible.**

 **One last thing. I have changed the profile picture for this particular story to display my own depictions of what Chiro looks like. I included both an anime-style illustration along with one that closely resembles what the normal Inklings look like. Personally, I'm more partial to the anime version, but all of you are free to refer to either one when reading.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Splatoon: Pure White**

 **Chapter 9: Splatfest: Milk Tea v. Lemon Tea**

The previous two days of physically and mentally preparing for the extensive time that Splatfest would consume had taken a minor toll on Vivi. Her entire body ached severely from even the minutest movements as she shifted in her bed. Unfortunately, she didn't recover from her exhaustion by sleeping as she thought she would, and she couldn't resist groaning in anguish while her muscles were virtually screaming at her to remain motionless.

"Ow, man. My body hasn't ached this much in a while," Vivi whined as she struggled to sit up, "Maybe I should have been more conscience of how I was performing during those matches."

As suggested, Vivi had just awoken from her much desired slumber and groggily wiped her eyes to help alleviate her drowsiness and expedite the process of her vision focusing on her room. She reluctantly released her hold on her hug pillow and propped herself up from behind on her elbows.

To put the size of her room into perspective, it is approximately twice the size of Chiro's room, which would be expected since her home was specifically designed to accommodate an Inkling family. Courtesy of her father's career earning him an exorbitant amount of funds, he requested that the apartment be expanded into the one next door and two above to have more comfort and have the interior be completely refurbished.

She was resting on a large queen size bed adorned with silk green covers and a white silk comforter with a gold squid designs stitched into it. However, her sheets were disheveled as a result of her always being a restless mover in her sleep. One of her pillows was somehow lying on the other side of the room near the door, and the other ended up on her desk.

"Ugh, Splatfest had to be today of all days now, huh? My examination is along with it, too." Vivi griped as she rubbed her sore shoulder and begrudgingly got out of her bed. Shivering at the contact of her bare feet with the coldness of the hard-wood floor, Vivi slowly trudged over to her walk-in closet, nonchalantly removed her white, fleece pajama shirt and pants until she was in nothing but her small, white bra and green boxers.

Her current condition is, to reiterate, attributed by over-exerting herself during her practice matches from the past two days. Under normal circumstances, she would never have been so reckless…..but she did it nevertheless because she was trying to impress Chiro. At every opportunity possible when she was in his line of sight, she executed her most flamboyant or refined moves as quick as possible.

It seemed to have the effect she desired.

Chiro always praised her and kept encouraging her to do more because he claimed he wanted to see her do more. Of course with his innocent smile, the sparkle of yearning in his eyes, and the innocent expression on his face, she couldn't refuse….bad decision on her account.

Now she was paying the price for trying to boast in front of Chiro.

Vivi slowly strided further in her closet until she caught sight of herself in front of her wall-mounted mirror and commenced evaluating her slim physique. It may be because of her grogginess still impairing her thinking, but she couldn't discern exactly why she was engaged in examining her body.

"Huh….I guess I'm still not used to how I look now?" Vivi commented to herself. Considering that Vivi obtained her humanoid form almost two weeks ago, it would be natural for her to still be astonished by her appearance. To be self-indulgent, she was fond of her lightly tanned skin and how smooth and soft it is. Vivi shifted her body around to attain a view of her backside.

If there was one aspect of her body she was overtly fond of, it would be her butt. It wasn't too large nor to small like some other girls. She didn't mean to be insensitive, but she found behinds that were too large or small unattractive, but she supposed that was her own perception.

" _Chiro was enjoying the time he spent examining your butt, Vivi."_ Vivi recalled Carla telling her the night they stayed over at Chiro's apartment.

Vivi's cheeks reddened at the memory. Her attention slowly transitioned to her rather…..uh….flat chest.

She loathingly reminisced to when Tsuki belittled her for her rather small bust, even though she had done so in a some-what bantering manner.

"I hate you sometimes, Tsuki." Vivi muttered disdainfully as she planted her hands her chest and sighed depressingly.

"Why is it that I am one of the unluckiest girls that were disposed to having a small chest? For squid's sake, even San has a bigger chest than me, and she's almost like a board." Vivi groaned. Well, not really; Sanae is barely B-Cup size, while Vivi is has an A-Cup. She was only saying that to feel better about herself. Her thoughts transitioned to her friend, Sanae – or "San" as she prefers to address her as - and how blatantly flirtatious she was behaved towards Chiro the last few days.

Indeed, Vivi was extraordinarily conflicted about the whole predicament, but in retrospect, she should have anticipated it to an extent. She knew Sanae was attracted to hot, shota-like boys, and Chiro definitely fulfilled that description.

Vivi couldn't resist blushing intensely. Vivi sighed contently, "Chiro is pretty hot for someone our age." Vivi's blush intensified when those words escaped her lips, and she shook her head vigorously to regain her sense of reality before going into one of her fantasies she is prone to going in sometimes.

The prior few days were a great opportunity for the girl to truly get acquainted with the white-haired boy she found to be attractive in many regards. When she pondered over her previous relationship with Chiro, they really didn't know much about one another. All she knew about him were that he is rather timid and shy around most girls, kind, embracing, cute, and a great cook.

However, the last two days provided her the chance to obtain a significantly better understanding of Chiro. She was able to confirm many of her speculations about him. She found that Chiro was uniquely distinct from many of the other Inkling boys. For instance, most of the boys in Inkopolis seemed to be solely inclined to gawking at girls and speaking about nothing but how they could get with them. Yes, Chiro has been stated to occasionally admire girls' bodies, especially hers, but not excessively like most other guys. Also, he doesn't incessantly talk about how he could try to woe females….he treats them with actual respect….and fear.

She also discovered that he is actually quite intelligent, except in regards to girls, has a passive sense of humor, embracing of others, caring, sweet, has an adorable laugh, and much, much more.

His favorite flavor is vanilla, which didn't appeal well to Vivi because she's more partial to chocolate; his favorite color is turquoise, score for her because of her color, and he absolutely adores pumpkin pie. Unfortunately, that's all the minor indulgences she could glean from her interactions with him from the last couple of days.

Their relationship as friends progressed very well. Chiro seems to be significantly more comfortable around her than he was when they met, and occasionally, he would tease her. Initially, Vivi misunderstood his teasing as flirting and would overreact sometimes. It got so severe that she performed a repeat of what she did to him at Ammo Knights by almost suffocating him to death. Luckily, she did realize her crude action and let go of him sooner, but Chiro, naturally, would frantically cower away from her and use Sanae to shield himself from her.

That made their relationship slightly regress, but it recovered rather quickly.

She and Chiro would start talking with each other again like they were best buddies.

During their exchanges though, Sanae would occasionally interject and act flirtatiously with Chiro, which annoyed Vivi to an extent.

During their Turf War matches, Sanae would manage to always meet with Chiro and stay as close as possible to him. Of course, Sanae would also exploit any opportunity to "trip" and land on him while uttering a provocative quip. Thankfully Momo would be there on coincidence to scold Sanae and tell the two to concentrate on the battle.

That was even the half of it. Every time they decided to take a hiatus from Turf Wars and eat out together, Sanae would always take the initiative to sit as close as possible to him. They would be virtually touching shoulders – or to be even more descriptive, she may as well be practically sitting on his lap. Chiro would sometimes be courageous enough to gripe, but Sanae would just hush him as soon as he tried to speak and tell him to just deal with it.

What aggravated her even more was the fact that Chiro wouldn't look too opposed to her advances despite his whiny protests and phobia of other girls. Vivi swore she saw him actually let her feed him one time.

"Damn it, San. You had to get attracted to the boy I like a lot…..and to add lemon juice to the cut, you try to force your way into second base with him, and too, "Vivi whined to herself, "I'm barely into first base!"

Vivi vividly recalled accosting her close friend concerning the matter the other day…

* * *

 _Flashback_

"San, since Chiro and Momo went to go purchase our lunches; I think this moment would be the best opportunity to talk to you about something that has been bothering." Vivi stated to her friend who was happily sipping on a juice box.

Sanae contently finished her small beverage and gracefully tossed the now crumbled package over her head to a nearby recycle bin. Both of the girls were sitting on a bench situated near the Booyah Base as they waited for Chiro's and Momo's return.

Sanae smiled innocently and responded, "Sure, Vivi, what do you wish to speak about?"

Vivi momentarily averted her gaze from Sanae's and awkwardly looked everywhere but at her. An awkward silence permeated the atmosphere around them before Sanae grew uncomfortable and started shifting slightly in her seat.

"Uhhhh, Vivi, is something the matter?"

Vivi sighed and inhaled a large breath of hair to calm her rather unsettled nerves. Vivi timidly said, "What's your relationship with Chiro?"

Sanae blushed furiously from the inquiry and turned her body to directly face Vivi.

"W-W-What?!" Sanae screamed.

"I-I-I'm asking you if you and Chiro are dating." Vivi nervously and slightly grumpily asked.

Sanae frantically waved her hands in front of her defensively. "Why did you come to that conclusion?! I mean, do we really look like a couple? Do we look cute as one?! Am I keeping the correct difference when walking next to him? Am I too close? Do l look cute next to him? How about him when he's near me? Did it appear as though I was hugging his arm too close to my body?"

"Why even bother asking me to confirm whether you two resemble what a couple would look like if you're going to ask questions on the premise that you are one?!" Vivi bellowed as she pinched her temples to calm her frustration.

Sanae chuckled sheepishly, "Sorry."

Vivi sighed dejectedly, "It's fine, and so what is your relationship?"

"Oh…..right. Unfortunately, we're not dating. That would be great, though." Sanae smiled happily; earning a very audible whine from Vivi.

"What's wrong, Vivi?" Sanae asked with very sincere concern.

"What do you think?!" Vivi grumbled while a slight blushed adorned her cheeks.

Sanae pondered over her words for a brief period of time before she gasped in realization, "You like Chiro, too?!"

Vivi blushed from embarrassment as a result of how loud she exclaimed her inquiry and immediately extended her hands out to cover her mouth before she said anything else.

Vivi sharply whispered, "Yes, yes, don't be so loud! If Chiro and Momo return soon, I don't want Chiro to overhear our conversation."

Sanae managed to muffle out a quick "okay" before Vivi released her hands from the girl's mouth.

"So….when did you start liking Chiro?" Vivi questioned.

Sanae smiled meekly.

"I actually got interested in him when we had our meeting at his home. The moment I saw him, I thought he was extremely hot and wanted to get intimate with him as soon as possible, but I had to restrain myself since we were involved in a very important meeting. However, I couldn't help but get very…physical with him when I saw him earlier today." Sanae began explaining.

Vivi raised her brow curiously and questioned, "Would you care to elaborate on what you meant by 'get intimate?'"

Sanae shrugged her shoulders sheepishly.

"You know….lye on his lap…..cuddle with him…..maybe steal a quick peck on the lips." Sanae muttered flirtatiously….more than she desired.

As Sanae continued to explain the implications behind her words, Vivi's face grew redder from the shock of how far Sanae wanted to go with Chiro and from slight frustration.

Some of her desires were borderline erotic for their age.

"….and fell asleep in his arms after we finished….." Sanae said dreamily as she grinned from ear to ear while staring absentmindedly into the plaza.

She was slowly engaging herself in a tangent.

"San! STOOOOOOOPPPPP!" Vivi bellowed with excessive embarrassment.

She recovered from her fantasizing and returned her attention to her best friend.

"Hahaha, I'm just kidding, Vivi. We didn't engage in anything of those things. Vivi? You okay? You look rather red." Sanae asked while softly placing her hand on the girl's forehead to see if she was developing a fever.

Vivi slowly but swiftly moved Sanae's hand away from her face and plastered a fake smile on her face.

"I appreciate that…inappropriate explanation, San. So, you want to date him?"

"Yeah, I presume you want to date him as well, right?"

Vivi didn't respond immediately, but she eventually nodded shyly.

Vivi sighed, "Oh, man, this is quite a predicament we're in, San. What do you propose we do about our affections for Chiro?"

Sanae responded almost instantaneously, "I have a simple solution. I get to date him, and you have to resign to finding another male that's almost as good as Chiro."

Vivi narrowed her eyes and stared at her best friend incredulously.

"What?" Vivi managed to muster the energy to ask.

"What? It's a flawless plan."

"Would you care to enlighten me as to what part of that plan benefits me?"

"I get Chiro." Sanae answered with a hint of nonchalance.

"I asked how it benefits me! I want to date that squid!" Vivi stated with slight irritation as she crossed her petite arms.

Sanae exhaled as she shifted her attention towards the plaza.

"You've previously been in two relationships. Can't you just be a considerate cousin and let me date him?" Vivi asked in an almost pleading tone.

Sanae shook her head.

"Where's the sense of accomplishment in that? 'Let me date him'. Yeah, I've been in two relationships, but the two guys I dated before were immature and merely wanted to get in my shorts. Chiro is genuinely a good-hearted squid, and he appears to be the type that would be constantly concerned with appeasing his girlfriend rather than trying to satisfy his own wants. You have to agree with me on that." Sanae responded.

Vivi couldn't help but agree with her perspective on the white haired boy. As their relationship progressed over the last couple of days, both Vivi and Sanae came to the realization that Chiro was essentially a pure-hearted squid who was ignorant of many of life's proceedings and how individual squids operate while going through it.

"Yes, I concur with your perception encompassing him, and that's precisely why I want to be with him. He and I would make a good couple, right?" Vivi responded.

Sanae uncomfortably averted her gaze away from the turquoise haired girl and scratched at her cheek with her finger. A severely discomforting silence pervaded the air around them, and time seemed to pass very slowly. It felt like hours before Vivi grew upset and finally asked Sanae why she responded the way she did.

"What?"

"Uhhhh…..I didn't want to say this, but I don't know if your being with Chiro would be okay for his mental and physical health." Sanae tentatively remarked while wincing.

Claiming that Vivi looked appalled couldn't accurately describe the over-whelming amount of offence she took from that comment.

"WHAAAAAT?!" Vivi screeched. Sanae slightly retracted as she winced from how high her scream was. "What do you mean my dating him would be bad like that!?"

Sanae uncomfortably clasped her hand on her own shoulder before sharply exhaling. "Well, I privately spoke with Carla about how you two first met Chiro, and what she told me was rather…uncouth of a girl trying to pursue a squid." Sanae said.

Vivi raised her brow from both curiosity and apprehension. "What did Carla relay to you?"

"She relayed the events of your first meeting with meticulous detail. Carla told me how you impulsively started strangling Chiro the instant you laid your eyes on him at Ammo Knights, and he almost died."

Vivi groaned in embarrassment and shamefully rubbed the back of her head in an attempt to alleviate the feelings of regret she was feeling. In retrospect, she could have handled the entire scenario in a much more calm fashion…..but…Vivi genuinely didn't know exactly why she acted so crudely, but that doesn't mean she didn't immediately regret doing that…after a few hours passed.

Sanae sighed disappointedly, "Look, I know you're extremely shy when it comes to anything remotely intimate with boys, and you tend to resort to being hostile as a sort of….." Sanae paused momentarily to find the right word, "….emotional defense mechanism, but come on! Strangling?! You choked a precious boy like him because he accidentally knocked you to the floor?"

Vivi raised her hand defensively. "Okay, okay, I get it; I was wrong, but Chiro and I are cool now. Besides, that alone doesn't mean I shouldn't get to date him," Vivi said irritably before pointing her finger at Sanae, "What about you?!"

Sanae looked shocked.

"What about me?"

"I can't allow someone as corrupt as you date an innocent kid like Chiro."

"'Corrupt?'"

"Yes, corrupt, I've seen what you've been doing around Chiro over the last few games. Constantly rubbing up next to him…..getting flirty and trying to steal a kiss while also doing some other….stuff! For squid's sake, San, you're FOURTEEN! Where did you learn some of the stuff you've been doing? It's not healthy for Chiro." Vivi inquired.

Sanae grinned at the question while making a peace gesture with a twinkle in her eye.

"I learned them from some of the dirty magazines I borrowed from Kori, but don't worry…I won't do anything too lewd until Chiro and I are married! We're still underage after all, and I have my principles!"

Vivi sweat dropped at her friend's casualness.

"How can you proudly say that without any shame?"

Sanae laughed, "I'm a complacent pervert. I'm not as bad as Kori, yet I have no shame left in my body."

An awkward and long silence filled the air between the two girls.

 _My lord, I'm friends with the female version of that pervert…..and my sister is in love with the one that corrupted my friend, too…..why me?_ Vivi cried internally.

"Anyway, would you explain how me dating Chiro is bad?" Sanae beckoned.

Vivi recovered from the ridiculousness of what just happened and recomposed herself. "You just validated the point I was going to make. You know too much weird stuff, and I have a bad feeling that you'll start teaching that stuff to Chiro and make him a pervert, too."

Sanae crossed her arms as she deadpanned at Vivi's reasoning.

"What's so wrong with passing on my knowledge to a boy who's oblivious to life's wonders?"

"I wouldn't consider the stuff you know 'wonders'."

Sanae smiled slyly. "It depends on how and when I teach him. The magazines were **very** informative."

Vivi blushed at the things she thought Sanae might be insinuating.

Sanae couldn't resist chuckling at Vivi's reaction, and she eventually began laughing hysterically, earning questioning gazes from Vivi and other Inklings walking by. "I'm just being facetious, Vivi…..well….mostly." Sanae managed to utter.

"Okay…..I highly urge you to stay away from Kori for a little while. I can't deal with this constantly."

"No promises."

Vivi sighed while pinching her temples, "Ugh, of course not."

The two of them didn't exchange any words for quite some time. Only the sounds of the music projecting from the enormous speakers at the base of Inkopolis Tower and the overlapping chatter of other conversations could be heard.

Realistically, only twenty minutes passed by during their little squabble, but it seemed as if it was hours. The two young girls sat on the bench while patiently waiting for Chiro and Momo to return with their morsels from the nearby burger chain restaurants, Squid Burgers.

Sanae dispelled the silence by sighing, and Vivi rotated her heads towards her.

"Look, Vivi, We're not going to make any progress in our situation by continually throwing insults at each other…..no matter how right some of them might be." Sanae said calmly.

Vivi nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, what do you propose we do about Chiro?" Vivi asked seriously.

Sanae pondered over the inquiry for a few minutes before snapping her fingers in realization.

"What?" Vivi asked.

"How about we make this a friendly competition. Let's compete over Chiro's affections and see which one of us becomes his girlfriend. That's the only fair solution I could conceive under these circumstances."

Vivi gave her a skeptical look at first, but eventually started liking the idea the more she considered it.

"Okay, that could work," Vivi said while stretching her arms, "Should we establish some rules to abide by?"

Sanae blinked with surprise.

"What do you mean by establishing rules?"

Vivi enunciated, "You know rules such as not interfering with each other's attempts to court him, not jeopardize each other's advances, not interrupting each other too much when we're trying to talk to him, etcetera."

"Oh, now I understand. I can agree to those conditions." Sanae exclaimed.

Vivi smiled triumphantly. She believed that now she had a viable chance at attaining Chiro's interests since Sanae is now inhibited from being too eccentric and distracting whenever she tried to speak with Chiro.

"Great. Now, let's agree that no matter what, there won't be any ill feelings toward one another after this is over." Sanae gleefully said as she extended her hand out to Vivi, which she graciously accepted and shook it vigorously.

"Yep, this should be interesting, San." Vivi said excitedly.

"What's going to be interesting, Vivi?" A familiar voiced suddenly interjected.

Both girls jumped high in their seats from shock and surprise at the sudden sound of his voice. Sanae clasped her hands around her forehead to try and calm her nerves while Vivi tightly clutched the fabric of her hoodie over her heart.

Chiro and Momo eyed the two girls oddly at their reactions and waited for them to recompose themselves.

"For tentacles' sake, Chiro, stop doing that!" Vivi bellowed at the white haired squid.

Chiro tilted his head slightly to the side while quietly asking, "What shouldn't I do?"

Sanae settled down enough to respond in Vivi's stead, "Stop appearing out of nowhere and scaring us like that. Gods, I commend you for at least possessing good stealth skills, but the problem is you do it too much unintentionally. I'm going to have a heart attack before Splatfest."

Chiro couldn't quite determine what Sanae was referring to, but he didn't feel like it was in his best interest to pry into what she was talking about and dismissed her words.

"Okay…um, sorry? Momo and I bought the food you two wanted." Chiro said as he timidly held up one of the food bags in his hands relinquished it to the two of them.

Sanae and Vivi beamed at the site of the food and viciously tore open the seal and removed the contents of the bag. Vivi quickly took out her double dog-fish cheeseburger, large fries, and large Dr. Squid soda while Sanae gratefully accepted her special cat-fish salad.

"Finally, I was on the verge of starving to death. What took you two so long?" Vivi asked as she started ripping the wrapper off the burger and took a large bite.

Momo sheepishly rubbed the back of her head and adorned an apologetic look on her face.

"S-Sorry, a group of boys and girls approached Chiro and me while we were waiting in line and requested autographs from the both of us. Luckily, I didn't get surrounded by most of them, but Chiro here got bombarded by a bunch of the girls." Momo began explaining.

Vivi and Sanae shifted their attention to the aforementioned boy and glared at him, earning a wince from the boy.

"How many girls were there?" Sanae asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

Momo cupped her hand around her chin as she tried to recall the exact number of squid girls.

"I think there were about twenty-eight of them, but there may have been more….." Momo said doubtfully, "Ah well, It doesn't really matter. You're getting pretty popular with the ladies, Chiro. If Sora saw how many girls were around you, he would go into a tantrum." Momo playfully elbowed Chiro in the chest, causing the awkward boy to blush from the sudden contact.

Both Vivi and Sanae didn't really feel like voicing their bitter feelings and just sat on the bench eating their meals violently as they watched Chiro get flustered from being touched by Momo.

Both Chiro and Momo eventually took out their own meals and sat down in the vacant spaces on the bench. Chiro nervously sat down between Vivi and Sanae while Momo sat to the right of Vivi. The four of them ate in comfortable silence as they enjoyed their delicious fast food.

After a few moments, Chiro looked over to how much of her food Vivi had already devoured, and couldn't help but chuckle. The three girls looked at him suspiciously from how abrupt he started laughing.

"What are you laughing about?" Vivi asked.

Chiro chuckled for a few more seconds before saying, "It's just that you like to eat a lot, huh, Vivi?"

Vivi was taken aback by the remark, and Momo and Sanae inhaled sharply and looked away in discomfort.

Chiro sensed the uneasiness in the atmosphere and looked back and forth between the girls.

"Did I say something wrong?" Chiro asked innocently

"I-It….It's n-not l-l-l-ike I…." Vivi started stuttering.

"Hm?"

"It's not like I eat like this all the time, Chiro! I'm not a glut!" Vivi practically screamed in his face while blushing furiously.

Chiro retracted from her bellowing and leaned closer into Sanae.

 _The one time I decide to disregard my diet, and Chiro here just sees me eating a lot like a pig! Now's he going to think I have no etiquette while eating._ Vivi thought while panicking.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you angry!" Chiro yelled in terror as he maneuvered around to the other side of Sanae to try and shield himself from Vivi's potential rampage.

Vivi only stared in shock at how terrified he looked, but what bothered her the most was how he was staying extremely close to Sanae while she started rubbing his back to comfort him.

"Hey, come on, Chiro, you have to admit what said was kind of insensitive." Sanae said soothingly.

"I don't even know what I did wrong!"

Sanae couldn't help but snicker at his behavior and pat him on the head.

"Don't worry about it too much. Vivi just gets cranky when someone looks at her eatinglike that."

"N-No I d-don't…" Vivi began, but she was hushed when Sanae held her hand up for her to stop talking, which bothered her little.

"Come on, Cutie, eat up before you're food gets cold so we can get right back to playing Turf Wars." Momo suggested enthusiastically.

Chiro hesitantly complied and returned to his seat next to Vivi and started eating his burger, which was the same as Vivi's burger.

The previous silence between the four resumed for a while. Momo had quickly consumed her food and was quietly waiting for the three fourteen year olds to finish their food. Vivi was next to finish eating while Chiro and Sanae were almost done with their food. Before Sanae took the last bite of her salad in her mouth, she looked over to Chiro and got a devious look on her face.

"Hey, Chiro, would you like to try a bite of my salad. It's really good." Sanae offered as she practically raised the last bits of her lettuce on her fork close to his face.

Vivi gasped in surprise while Momo started to look interested.

Chiro gave Sanae a quizzical look before a swallowed the bit of the burger he was previously chewing on.

"I'm fine, Sanae. Besides, I'm sure you want to enjoy every last bite of your lunch….." Chiro started saying.

Sanae quickly interrupted, "No, I'm full right now, and I don't want to waste food, so…." Sanae scooted closer to Chiro to where their arms were touching, "I insist you eat this."

Chiro blushed a deep shade of red from her touch and worriedly looked down at the fork.

"B-B-But…..won't y-y-you g-get mad i-i-if I get my d-drool on your f-f-fork?" Chiro managed to stammer out.

Sanae pouted. "Did I not just say I'm finished eating? Hurry up and take a bite before I get mad and change my mind." Sanae groaned as she pressed the fork closer to his mouth.

Chiro looking embarrassed would be the understatement of their entire specie's lifetime, and stating that Vivi was flabbergasted wouldn't do her fury justice either.

Eventually, Chiro meekly nodded and slowly opened his mouth.

"Huh." Sanae said.

Chiro looked at her curiously.

"What's wrong?" Chiro asked.

"Well, I know it's expected, but the inside of your mouth and tongue are a nice white color." Sanae cooed while childishly looking at the insides of his mouth.

 _Looks tasty…._ Sanae thought, but quickly shook her head in surprise after she realized the provocative thought that processed in her mind.

Momo coughed gruffly which brought Sanae out of her….unusual fascination with Chiro's mouth.

"Oh…..oh, sorry. Now, Chiro say 'ahhhhh'"

Momo sighed, "He's not a baby, Sanae."

"Don't ruin the moment for me!" Sanae whined as she pushed the food in his mouth and made him bite.

Chiro nervously started chewing Sanae's food and swallowed it down. Chiro looked surprised at how delicious it was and leaned over Sanae's platter to see if there was any remaining left, but sighed depressingly when he remembered that she stated that was the last of her meal.

Chiro sadly said, "Ahhhh, that was really good. Ah, well, I think we should return to playing Turf Wars."

Chiro stretched as he lifted himself from the bench and quickly disposed of his leftover garbage. Momo nodded in agreement as she followed suit and pulled Chiro with her as they ran towards the base of Inkopolis Tower.

Sanae giggled contently as she skipped her way toward them as well. Vivi on the other hand was absolutely livid. She just witnessed Chiro and Sanae share an **indirect kiss** , and she couldn't do a thing to prevent it since she was bound to the agreement she and Sanae made prior to Chiro's and Momo's sudden return.

* * *

Vivi went into a small tantrum before tiring herself out and clumsily making her way to one of her drawers and opening it. Vivi intuitively reached for her shorts before tiredly shimming into them.

"Vivian, honey, is everything quite alright in there? Are you going into another one of your tantrums? At least eat some breakfast before you do it so you have more energy." A soothing voice called out to Vivi from the other side of her door.

Vivi groaned internally before turning her head toward the door, "Yeah, sorry, mom. I'll be out in a few moments."

"Alright, dear, but try and refrain from being too rambunctious so early in the morning. Your father isn't feeling particularly well since he had to chastise your cousins for arriving late to the recording session and having to work extremely late last night." Vivi's mom advised from the other side of the door.

Vivi sighed in annoyance. Vivi's dad was always prone to being grumpy after being around her cousin's company for extended periods of time. His feeling that way wasn't attributed by any ill feelings toward them; it was just that her cousins were very irresponsible and uncooperative exclusively when having to record their albums. They constantly gripe about being confined to a recording room and singing the songs they themselves wrote.

"Absolutely fan-squidtastic. Why can't Callie and Marie behave more maturely around dad? They know for a fact that he gets so aggravated with them with anything pertaining to their careers and how irresponsible they are about keeping up with their obligations." Vivi sighed.

The turquoise haired girl tiredly stumbled out of her room to be met with the bright radiance of the early morning sunlight illuminating her home through the windows.

She couldn't help but hold her arm over her eyes to shield them from the bright light.

Her family's abode is far more reminiscent of an expansive condominium than what a five star apartment would appear as.

Vivi slowly descended the steps from the second floor of her home and made her way to the dining room table to be greeted by her mother, father, older sister and little sister. Her family all looked up and nodded at her simultaneously before returning to what they were previously doing before her arrival.

Vivi's mother was preoccupied with trying to convince her little eight-year-old sister, Asada, into eating the remaining vegetables on her platter, but since the little pre-humanoid absolutely loathed eating what she described as 'waste byproducts', Asada would only shake her head. Consequently, her other would get infuriated and tried force feeding her the vegetables.

Her mother was a rather petite and attractive adult squid. Well, it's to be expected since she is only 36 years old. Her hair was a comforting baby blue color, and her eyes are vibrant yellow. She was currently wearing doctor's outfit with a few splotches of food stains around her shirt, possible due to her Asada's messing eating habits. Considering Asada's young age, she still had yet to obtain a complete humanoid form, so her entire body was a navy blue color. Also, Asada was rather short in stature, so all she wearing was a large Anchor Sweat.

Vivi looked over to her 38 year old father just despondently sitting at the head of the table while scrolling through his SquidPad and sipping down his Squid coffee. His navy blue hair was tied back in the common pony tail other boys have their hair in, and he was wearing a slim black suit over a light-blue dress shirt and white tie.

Carla was wearing her normal clothes and eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Vivi tiredly took the empty seat next to Carla and strained to eat the breakfast that was already laid out in front of her. Initially, none of her family seemed to acknowledge her struggling to even move, but after a few moments, her father looked away from his SquidPad to her painstakingly try to eat.

"Vivian, you okay?" Her father asked.

Everyone turned to look at Vivi with concern as they waited for her to respond to her father's inquiry.

"Yeah, dad, I'm as good as ever." Vivi fibbed as she winced through the pain that came from raising her arm and gave him thumbs up.

Her father stared at her incredulously and softly placed down his cup of coffee,

Her father sternly, yet comfortingly said, "Drop the façade, Vivian. You know better than to try and deceive me."

Vivi slightly panicked, "No, I'm not lying to you, dad, honest."

Her father gave her a deadpanned expression.

"Vivian….after dealing with Callie and Marie for years now, I've learned to easily discern when I'm being lied to. Again, I'll repeat myself, 'what's wrong?'"

Vivi sighed in defeat as she resigned to her father's pestering and pouted.

"I'm severely sore right now. It requires a lot of effort for me to even move a muscle." Vivi explained.

Her father smiled for a fleeting moment in satisfaction before he recommenced donning the serious and concerned expression he previously had.

"Why are you so sore, Sis?" Asada asked.

A sparkle twinkled in Carla's eye as she grinned ear to ear.

"She's been busy trying to impress a boy that caught her interests, and she overdid it by a lot." Carla said mischievously.

Vivi whined in annoyance and glared at her older sister while the rest of the family stared at the young Inkling in disbelief.

Carla on the other hand was snickering excessively at the reactions from her family. Carla thoroughly enjoys exploiting every opportunity possible to tease her younger sister, and creating situations where she would be subjected to absolutely embarrassing circumstances.

Their mother squealed in delight, "Oh, you're trying to impress a boy?! That's adorable! My little girl is becoming a woman and has a boyfriend."

Their father groaned in exasperation, "Sinon, please, don't encourage that kind of behavior. She's still a kid after all; she shouldn't even have a boyfriend."

"DAAAAAD!" Vivi whined.

If there was one aspect about her father that she detested the most, it was his overt overprotectiveness of her and her sisters in regards to boys. Whenever she or Carla mentioned anything that may have involved boys, he would instantaneously begin getting defensive and start lecturing them about how dangerous boys are, and that they would resort to any means necessary to obtain what they desire from girls. He said all boys only care about themselves in a relationship express no concern for the girl's happiness.

"Kazu, stop right there before you go off in another tangent. It's too early in the morning, and I have a long day of demanding appointments today, so I would greatly appreciate it if you didn't start preaching your unjustified opposition to our daughters dating boys. Besides, you should be happy for Vivian. She's in love!" Sinon cooed.

Kazu sharply exhaled as he clasped his hand around his face.

"And I would appreciate it if you weren't so exuberant so early in the morning as well. You know I have a headache from dealing with those two devils all day yesterday."

Sinon narrowed her eyes at her husband.

"Could you not call our nieces 'devils'? You know as well as I do how incorrigible they are, and you should be used to it by now." Sinon sighed.

Kazu sighed as well, "I know I should be accustomed to it, but sometimes they never cease to amaze me at how they manage to formulate so many creative ways of explaining why they're late to recording sessions, and how even when they're there, they constantly complain and try to take so many intermissions."

Sinon couldn't disagree with her husband, but she still attempted to argue in Callie's and Marie's defense.

"Yes, but you know they don't mean anything by it."

Kazu stifled a chuckle, "Yeah, I guess if being blatantly lazy and disrespectful doesn't mean anything, then I agree with you. At least Sanae is there most of the time to scold them. Why is it that the younger generation is wiser and more mature than their superiors?"

"Just how low do you think of them? And wait…didn't you just insult yourself?" Both Carla and Vivi asked in their subconscious.

Kazu returned his attention to the daughter in question.

"Now, back to you, young lady. I will not permit this relationship with this boy you're trying to impress. I absolutely forbid it!" Kazuto firmly proclaimed.

Vivi lightly blushed and yelled, "HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND! HE'S JUST A REALLY GOOD FRIEND!"

Carla murmured, "He's not her boyfriend yet."

Vivi sneered at her older sister.

"You're not helping!"

Sinon looked at her daughter in astonishment and disappointingly said, "Oh, you don't have a boyfriend? Ah, I was getting more elated for no reason then."

Carla seized another opportunity to tease her sister.

"No, mom, if she had a boyfriend, she would be severely sore for an _entirely_ different reason." Carla nonchalantly averted her gaze from her sister's flustered expression and desperately tried to stifle her laughter from their parents' reactions.

Kazu narrowed his eyes towards his eldest daughter; a slight twitch accompanied it primarily in his left eye.

"Carla, please refrain from making such sexual innuendos at the family table, especially in the presence of Asada. I don't want her to be exposed to such inappropriate notions at her age yet. In fact, I have no desire for you to think in such a manner either." Kazu scolded Carla.

"Too late, daddy." Carla smirked tauntingly at her father, who sighed dejectedly.

Asada prodded her cheek with her small stump on a hand and alternatively looked between Kazu and Carla.

"Mommy, what did Carla mean by Vivi would be sore because of something else?" Asada asked with childish innocence.

"Well, you see, Asada, Carla was implying that Vivi would be sore because she had se-"

"SINON! Don't explain that stuff to her! Did I not just state I don't want her to get familiarized with the lewd stuff that has corrupted our other two daughters?!"

"We're not corrupted." Both Carla and Vivi said monotonously while looking offended.

Sinon pouted childishly while crossing her arms. "You're no fun, honey," Sinon leaned down to whisper in Asada's ear, "I'll tell you later before your father comes back after work, sweetie."

Asada knew whenever her mother would whisper something secretive about anything her father would be opposed of her to know; she would just nod and humor her father until he departed.

"I'm sorry, daddy. I won't ask about it anymore." Asada said while making a deceivingly adorable face.

Kazu sighed in relief, "At least I have one daughter that's still pure."

Kazu rotated his head to get a view of the clock and nearly choked when he ascertained the current time.

Kazu hysterically gasped, "Oh, NO! I'm close to being late for the rest of the recording session. The last thing I need this morning is to be berated by Callie and Marie about the thing I criticize them about."

He quickly and painfully chugged the remaining amount of his hot coffee down his esophagus before swiftly making his way to the sink and rinsing out the miniscule amount of coffee left in the cup.

"It's the day of Splatfest, and we're still in the midst of recording their new single. We're significantly behind schedule since it's supposed to have been released today, but we had to delay it because of them. And because of their affiliation with the Elite 10, we won't be able to record for long because they need to assist the others for the last minute preparations for the event. Also, I hear they excommunicated two members and have two members participating in the Turf Wars, so they'll have more responsibilities to fulfill." Kazuto complained loudly while indiscreetly looking at Carla.

Carla held her hands up defensively. "Hey, Kori and I are participating because we're evaluating two candidates that may join the Elite 10. One of them happens to be Vivi, and the other one is Vivi's boyfriend."

"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" Vivi interjected.

Carla wagged her finger. "Not yet, at least."

Vivi blushed furiously in both anger and embarrassment.

Kazu and Sinon looked towards their daughter in surprise.

"Oh, really? So they finally acknowledged your skills as a player and decided to test you as a worthy contender? I'm proud of you, Vivian." Kazu said proudly while Vivi blushed from his praise.

"Thanks, dad." Vivi said gleefully.

Sinon gasped in realization, "Is that the other reason why you're extremely sore right now? Is it because you were practicing really hard?"

Vivi nodded in slight affirmation.

"…and she was trying to impress a boy." Carla reminded them.

Vivi sneered at her sister.

"WOULD YOU SHUT UPPPP?!" Vivi screeched at her sister, prompting the rest of the family to shield their ears from the pain her extraordinarily high scream.

Kazu groaned at the reiteration, "Look, I'm not in the mood to handle this issue right now. I have to deal with more pressing matters with my career as you're irresponsible cousin's producer. I have to leave now."

Sinon lifted herself up from the table and walked over to kiss her husband on the cheek.

"Have a great day, Sweetie. Hey, after the kids leave for Splatfest tonight, I can give you a little _present_ for all the hard work you've done this week. After all, it seems you need a much needed _reward._ " Sinon said seductively as she winked suggestively.

Kazu smiled shyly as he slowly leaned down to passionately kiss his wife.

"BLEEEH," Asada spat in disgust at the sight of her parents getting too intimate in front of her with what she thought was a repulsive. Hey, she's still a kid after all and thinks the things couples do is disturbing.

Carla leaned back in her chair with a sigh, "I have to agree with Asada. You lecture us about the weird things boys might do, which is probably why we're 'corrupted' in the first place, yet you and mom do something like that in front of us, especially Asada. It's hard for us to heed your words when you and mom are getting it on."

Kazu and Sinon looked away from each other in embarrassment with a deep shade of red tinting their cheeks. Even as a long time married couple, they still act like newlyweds sometimes.

Kazuto stammered, "H-H-Hey, my relationship with y-y-your mother is d-different."

The three sisters looked at their father smugly, which prompted more embarrassment from him.

"You know what?! Ink all of you! I'm going to work." Kazu grumbled as he quickly made his way to the front door as he tried to ignore the audacious laughter from his daughters.

"Language, dad!" Carla managed to chastise through her laughing fit.

Sinon looked annoyingly at Vivi. "That's not nice you three. Anyway, this boy you two have been talking about? What's his name and what does he look like?"

Vivi turned her attention to her mother.

"Oh, his name is Chiro. He's the same age as me, and he's Tsuki's little brother. You won't believe this mom, but he has a unique hair color, too. His hair is white, and he's capable of shooting white ink. He's a bit timid, but he has an interesting personality and much more affable than other Inkling boys." Vivi relayed to her mother, but was caught by surprise at her reaction along with her father's.

Kazu had stopped abruptly on his way to the door and looked back to her in shock, and Sinon donned a similar expression before worriedly turning to her husband.

The uneasy silence that followed was quickly dissipated after Kazu gestured for Sinon to come over to him so they were out of their daughters' hearing range. Both of them could be seen whispering to each other while occasionally looking back at them.

Carla and Vivi exchanged unusual looks between one another before shrugging their shoulders and dismissing their parents' unexpected response to Vivi's description of Chiro.

Kazu quickly looked over his shoulder to ensure that none of his daughters were eavesdropping on their conversation before returning his attention to Sinon.

"Do you think she's talking about Saiba's kid?" Sinon asked concerned.

"No, no, Vivian may be talking about another boy that has white hair." Kazu immediately attempted to dismiss the suggestion.

"Sweetie, you're going into denial." Sinon said softly.

Kazu rudely retorted, "No, I'm not."

Sinon blankly stared at her husband.

"Kazu, we're talking about a kid that's most definitely Saiba's child. Vivian just confirmed it by saying that he's Tsuki's little brother, and we both know those two are his kids."

"That doesn't confirm anything."

Sinon sighed in exasperation, "Kazu, we're talking about the child of the only Inkling in history to have **red hair**. That child somehow is the only one to possess white hair, which is another first to be documented in recorded history. If there was another squid with white hair, it would have been addressed and recorded in a medical document, and it would be a great coincidence that they're both named 'Chiro'."

"But they didn't do that with Saiba or his kid. There's no way that the boy she's talking about is Saiba's son. Now, I have to go." Kazuto countered as he tried to make his way out the door, but was intervened by Sinon.

"That's because Saiba's family effectively concealed his existence, and Saiba followed his parents' example and did the same. Our family and friends are acquainted with every prominent family in the world, and I have authorized access to every Inkling's medical records. Trust me; I would know if there was another white Inkling. Stop being stubborn and accept the fact it's him." Sinon counter-claimed.

Kazuto sighed in defeat because he knew she was right.

Sinon slowly placed a comforting hand on her husband's shoulder.

"Look, I know you don't want to talk about anything pertaining to Saiba, especially after what happened to him years ago. Ever since then, our friends and we became more withdrawn from each other, particularly Philia. I mean, we can't really condemn her for that since she lost her husband, and was left to raise two kids on her own while simultaneously taking up the mantle of owner and CEO of the largest weapons manufacturer in the world. However, he was your best friend, your brother pretty much, and you promised him before he died that you would watch over his kids in his stead. Are you honestly just going to walk away right now from this conversation? If it wasn't for Saiba…." Tears started to accumulate in the corner of her eyes, which startled Kazuto.

"…..You would have been the one to die, and our daughters would have grown up without a father. You owe your life to him and Philia by fulfilling your promise…."

"I know!" Kazu interrupted, "But it still doesn't change the fact Tsuki and his son are growing up without theirs'. It's always difficult for me to even look at Tsuki in the eye without feeling guilty, and now there's the possibility that I have to face his son, too. It's just…..I really don't feel like discussing this right now, Sinon. We can do this another time. I have to go."

"But….." Sinon began.

"We'll talk about this later," Kazu stated sternly while glowering at her, "I'm not mentally prepared for this ordeal right now. Damn that Philia. She could have at least notified one of us that she was sending her son to Inkopolis. I know she now prefers to stay reclusive from us and the others, but she could have at least been courteous to inform us."

Kazu fixed his suit with minor frustration and stormed out of their home without even looking back to his wife.

Sinon looked depressingly out down the hallway towards her husband until he quickly turned the corner and looked back to her daughters.

"I suppose I should leave as well. Vivian, I suggest you apply some of the muscle relieving patches we have stored in the upstairs hallway cabinet to help alleviate the pain. You don't want to remain this way for the rest of the day and throughout Splatfest, right? Carla, watch over Asada, and make sure she doesn't cause any mischief." Sinon remarked as she quickly waved goodbye and closed the door.

"Well, that was unusual. What do you speculate mom and dad were discussing?" Vivi inquired of her older sister.

Carla replied, "I don't know. However, whatever it was, it must have been significantly serious because I've never seen them look so….forlorn and dejected. I think it's best if we don't try to pry into this matter. My intuition is telling me that we may trigger a sensitive issue."

Vivi nodded at her suggested action and recommenced struggling to ingest her morning meal. Carla easily finished eating her meal while Asada begrudgingly nibbled on her vegetables until they were gone. Normally, Asada would have disposed of her vegetables without her parents' knowing, but recently Carla took the responsibility as an older sister to ensure that she receives her essential and natural nutrients from veggies, so she made it her point to make sure she eats every last bite, which aggravated Asada.

Vivi continued to struggle raising the portions of food on her fork to her mouth, and approximately half an hour transpired before she finally finished eating as well.

"You okay, sis?" Asada asked concerned.

Vivi smiled comfortingly at her little sister as she gently patted her on the head.

"Yeah…..I think I'll manage."

Asada giggled contently at the touch of her sister and smiled in response before jumping down from her seat and lunging her way over to the large living room couch. Asada had fumbled around for a few seconds to locate the remote before successfully finding it between the cushions and turned the 100" flat screen HD TV on. She proceeded to continually change channels until she decided to watch a recording of Callie's and Marie's morning show.

Whilst their little sister was enthralled by their cousins' program, Carla tilted her head to Vivi and commented, "I recall telling you to be cautious with how you perform in Turf Wars. You may be some-what exceptional, but your new body is still developing, and straining it will only accomplish stifling your growth and causing you to frequently tired. I know you want to attract Chiro, but don't overdo it."

Vivi frowned slightly in defeat.

"I'm sorry. I know I overexerted myself over the last few days. Tonight's going to be quite grueling when we start playing. Man, I can't believe how reckless I was to exhaust myself before my exam. Do you think Kori might more lenient towards me if I tell him I'm not feeling well?"

Carla gave her a doubtful look. "I wouldn't expect it since this is an imperative examination. None of the current Elite 10 members received any special treatment when we strived to obtain a position in the group. You and Chiro have evidently been the only exception up until this point. However, Kori and I will strictly abide by the pre-established procedures set by our predecessors in regards to examining potential members."

Vivi exhaled sharply, "Okay. I appreciate the drawn out explanation, sis. It was just a facetious question anyway."

Vivi winced as a sudden, sharp pain shot through her body.

"….But I'll see if I can come to a compromise by talking with Tsuki. Be grateful that I'm best friends with her to even have the possibility of requesting that."

Vivi smiled thankfully at her sister.

"Besides, Tsuki will most likely make such accommodations anyway. I presume Chiro may be just as sore as you since he just started playing Turf Wars, and was compelled to overexert himself too in order to keep up with you, Sanae, and Momo. He may be in a worse condition than you. She may ask us to slightly reduce our standards for Chiro's sake, and I can ask her to squeeze you in that as well." Carla claimed.

Silence permeated the room for a moment as Vivi trudged her way to the large window of the living room and looked toward the main Plaza. The sun had ascended further into the sky, and the overwhelming rays of light basked all of Inkopolis with warmth and sunshine. Inkopolis Tower was emanating the typical music it blasted from the speakers equipped at its base, and she could ascertain a few Inklings beginning to enter for early morning sessions. Simultaneously, a multitude of older Inklings were assisting one another in situating the large vans on which Callie and Marie would be performing for the occasion and establishing the individual food and game stands for the younger squids to enjoy while the older ones played in the Turf War aspects of Splatfest.

"I hope so…." Vivi muttered solemnly as she looked down at her bare feet depressingly.

* * *

Splatfest is a well renowned, celebrated occasion that a plethora of young Inklings eagerly await to indulge in. Many Inklings highly anticipate the festive atmosphere the event invokes as it adorns Inkopolis Plaza with a vast array of neon signs, festival stands offering either traditional games or themed cuisines, and fireworks that illuminate the beautiful night sky with the colors. Others simply look forward to incessantly and strictly participating in Turf Wars with friends at night while utilizing neon versions of the colors employed in normal Turf Wars.

Of course, whichever events kids decided to partake in, the atmosphere is wonderfully accompanied by the pleasant sounds of the Squid Sister's singing.

However, this Splatfest in particular could only evoke apprehension and anxiety in a certain young squid girl constantly striving to achieve the same position her sister once occupied when she was undergoing a similar exam.

Vivi was currently standing with Chiro and the other members of the Elite 10 in Callie and Marie's studio. Each of them was adorning the themed t-shirt of their respective teams along with the colors.

To be self-indulgent, Vivi actually adored Chiro's white ink coloring her tentacles. The pure white coloring was absolutely endearing, and she could discern a small amount of Chiro's scent accompanying her new Splatfest colors.

She could smell the sweet aroma of vanilla and mint.

Tsuki, Sanae, Marie and Carla were casually sitting on the floor playing a poker game while intermittently chuckling at one another and groaning as they drew an unfortunate hand and lost a brief match. Despite how frantic Callie and Marie were prior to now, she was sincerely astonished that they were quite carefree.

Kori, or the 'Pervert' as she refers to him as, and Momo were begrudgingly mocking and comforting Sora as he was sulking on the floor and whining about seeing an extensive number of couples affectionately snuggling with one another before Splatfest commenced.

Chiro and Vivi were contently leaning against the wall far from the others, enjoying the comfortable silence surrounding the both of them….well Chiro was anyway.

Vivi, preoccupied with fretting over her temporary and horribly timed physical ailment as a result of her stupidity, couldn't comprehend how composed or despondent Chiro is. Other than liking how he looked in just a white t-shirt, she was anticipating him to be enduring the same condition like her as suggested by Carla, but he wasn't at all, or didn't appear to be exhibiting any indications to being in pain, nor did he seem to be anxious about the examination. He is nonchalantly sipping on a bottle of milk tea, which he seemed to be overly enjoying, and admiring the interior design of the studio.

"Chiro….." Vivi beckoned.

Chiro disengaged himself from his previous activity and turned to his friend.

"Yeah, Vivi?" Chiro responded happily.

Vivi slowly pushed herself off the wall and sighed, "…are you doing well? You don't seem to be nervous about our examination, nor do you seem to be tense. Is everything alright?"

Chiro donned a quizzical expression before smiling and responding, "I really appreciate your concern, Vivi, but nothing is wrong at all. On the contrary, I couldn't be more elated. Considering that this is my first ever Splatfest, I can't wait to start playing. Tsuki told me the other day that Turf Wars are even more spectacular at night, with all the vibrant colors, fireworks, and miscellaneous games. I'm especially excited for the fireworks since I've never seen them before."

Vivi looked incredulously at the adorable boy. "You've never seen fireworks before?"

Chiro shook his head in response.

Vivi chuckled and playfully pushed him, which prompted a blush from the boy.

"Hehehe, it's honestly shocking how much you don't know, but that's one thing I really like about you, Chiro." Vivi sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

The blush lining Chiro's cheeks intensified from the embarrassment of Vivi pointing out his ignorance, but what he was blushing more from how Vivi openly said she liked something about him.

Considering how he perceived his skills to be subpar and that he thought he was being nothing more than a nuisance for her, he believed she would be annoyed with his presence at this point now. Fortunately, she was acting completely opposite of what he was expecting.

Chiro meekly said while pouting, "I know a lot of stuff, Vivi."

Vivi humored him and exaggeratedly raised her brow with pseudo-curiosity.

"Ohhhhh? You know a lot of stuff, huh? Okay then…..," Vivi pondered over her thoughts before mustering the courage to say, "Do you have a better understanding of girls, you socially awkward mess?"

Vivi had tenderly wrapped her arms around Chiro's free arm and tightly brought it closer to her body.

Chiro's face was tinted with a deep crimson from the abrupt contact while he looked surprised at her features. Her body's warmth instantaneously permeated his arm, and he could smell her scent. She smelled sweet – like peaches, and he absolutely adored her smell.

Chiro mentally dismissed the brief obsession with Vivi's scent and refocused on the events at hand.

Vivi's seductive expression made it extremely difficult for him to process her inquiry, but nevertheless, he reflected over the information he read in the _Understanding Girls_ book he received from Momo, courtesy of his older sister's prodding into his personal life. Regardless, he still read the contents of the novel in order to not disrespect Momo for sacrificing her time to buy it for his sake.

If he recalled correctly, the first chapter specifically encompassed the appropriate responses to a girl's flirtatious advances and sly remarks. One suggestion was to simply play along with her and subsequently tease her.

 _Is that the most appropriate thing to do, though? Would she get upset with me if I did something so crude since she's been getting rather tense whenever I do something along the lines of teasing?_ Chiro briefly fretted over the thought but eventually resigned to carrying the books suggestion out.

Chiro recomposed himself and mischievously eyed the cute girl clinging to his arm. Vivi was caught by surprise by his reaction and felt sudden sensations of anxiety and curiosity bellowing in her.

Chiro nervously said, "Not really, but there is this one cute girl that I understand much more than others, and I'm grateful that I do."

Vivi was taken aback by the comment and fretfully looked at Chiro. "Who is the girl you're talking about?"

 _Is he going to reveal that the girl he thinks is cute is Sanae?_ Vivi pondered frantically in her thoughts as a solemn expression started forming on her features. Her thoughts shifted to how much his relationship with Sanae had progressed significantly faster than his with hers despite her knowing him longer. Tsuki and Carla have constantly been reassuring her that Chiro displays an obvious attraction towards her; however, she has gradually been doubting that information.

Vivi acknowledged that Chiro has progressively shown indications of being fond of Sanae more than her. Initially, Chiro was very timid around Sanae, but he eventually started acting similarly towards her as he does Vivi. On occasion when Sanae isn't being flirtatious with him, Chiro initiates his own endeavors of teasing her, and Sane suddenly turns into a nervous wreck. Even though she claims to be an open pervert and attempts to seduce Chiro every opportunity she has, Sanae is no better than Vivi in regards to being 'wood' by an attractive squid.

Chiro seems to attain a sense of encouragement to do it more frequently to Sanae since she doesn't react aggressively like Vivi does when Chiro musters the courage to tease her.

Chiro slowly inhaled and uttered, "It's you, Vivi."

Chiro swiftly turned his head away in embarrassment as he sheepishly scratched at his red cheek. Vivi on the other hand stood motionless and astounded by how flirty that sounded coming from him.

Yes, Chiro lightly teases her; however, she has never once witnessed him being bold enough actually flirt. Actually, she honestly believed he wasn't capable of even committing something many of the Elite 10 and she considered him completely ignorant about.

But what was more exciting to her was that Chiro basically complemented her by calling her cute.

"W-W-What?" Vivi stammered out the question.

Chiro tensed at the sound of her desire for him to repeat his previous remark. It took all the boldness he possessed to resolve himself into saying that to her.

 _The book made….uh…..flirting was it? Yes…..it made 'flirting' with girls sound quite easy and satisfying, but that was the most awkward moment in my life! I mean, that is how I genuinely feel, but to actually have the audacity to say that to her directly was so nerve-wracking! Was there a step I overlooked while reading the book? It never conveyed the guy feeling so embarrassed!_ Chiro internally screamed as he managed to shift his free hand to the back pocket of his shorts and pulled out the pink book.

He quickly flipped through the first pages to find the section he consulted for doing what he did.

 _Oh, squid! Where is the inking page?! I definitely must have screwed that up. Oh, man, Vivi must have perceived that as another one of my horrible attempts at teasing. She's probably going to assault me again._ Chiro's heart sunk at the mere mention of the instance and shakily looked back over to Vivi to see if she was prepared to pounce at him.

To his astonishment, Vivi wasn't as furious as he was anticipating. On the contrary, her expression seemed to coincide more with a girl that was struggling to find an appropriate response to a person telling her some news.

For Chiro, he couldn't discern whether the analogy pertained to good or bad news. Vivi's face may be red, but from his experience, that could be attributed by embarrassment or fury.

"Uh…..Vivi?"

The sound of his voice broke her from the depths of her own thoughts, and she couldn't help but slightly tense from his beckoning of her.

"Huh? Yeah? What? What? Is something up? Do you need something, Chiro?" Vivi stupidly stuttered out before immediately clasping her hand around her mouth to prevent herself from uttering anything else that may make her sound stupid in front of Chiro.

"Uh, you've been clinging to my arm for quite some time now. I think I'm starting to lose ink circulation there." Chiro said while gesturing to his limp arm in her embrace.

Vivi gasped and frantically removed herself from him.

"Ahhh, I'm so sorry, Chiro. I didn't mean to hang on to you for that long." Vivi groaned as she worriedly looked at his arm to see if she may have caused any other anomalies.

Chiro rotated his arm to expedite the ink circulation and waved his other hand at her calmly.

"It's alright, Vivi." Chiro chuckled slightly in an attempt to reassure her that she didn't do anything wrong. In actuality, he was rather fond of her closeness to him while affectionately holding on to his arm, and he was honestly kind of sad when she let go. Yes, he did say he was losing feeling in his arm, but he didn't consider her actually letting go. Indeed, he would have preferred if her grip on his arm was less intense, but nevertheless, he enjoyed the close contact of their bodies and wouldn't mind doing it more frequently.

 _Then again, I think it might be really selfish of me to ask her to always do that. Wait, why am I suddenly more concerned with the urge to be really close to her than fretting over how I close I was to her to begin with?_ Chiro mused over in his mind.

His thoughts reflected over his little exchange with Sanae in the alley behind the studio a few days ago. She mentioned how his reaction to her teasing was more tamed than she anticipated, and he distinctly remembered himself thinking that was probably because he spent so much time with Vivi and Carla.

However, he still is a little tense around Carla, but not as much as he was initially. He's definitely still terrified around other girls, but now he can hold at least some eye contact before losing his composure and running off. The other females in the Elite 10 don't bother him as much either. He's gradually getting more and more comfortable with all of them, especially Sanae. But, the only girl he doesn't seem to have any issues being around at all anymore is Vivi.

Chiro scratched the back of his head as he intently pondered over why that is.

In the meantime, Tsuki had consulted her phone to assess the time and grinned when the clock registered it to be two minutes prior to midnight.

The slender inkling rose form her seat on the floor and coughed into her fist to gain the attention of the others in the studio.

"Okay, everyone, it's currently two minutes before Splatfest commences, so we need to depart and tend to our stations to ensure that the event occurs smoothly without any issues arising. The last thing we need to happen is to put the occasion on hiatus because someone didn't fulfill their responsibilities accordingly." Tsuki announced to the others to which they nodded and ceased doing what they were doing to congregate around her.

"Since Carla and Kori won't be able to tend to theirs' because of my little brother and Vivi, Momo and Sora will have complete their portion of the tasks." Tsuki ordered, earning displeased groans from the aforementioned duo.

"Why does it have to be us, though? Why can't Sanae or you handle their roles?" Momo whined to the girl as she directed an annoyed look at her.

Tsuki donned a smug look on her face as a sparkle twinkled in her eyes. "Simple. It's because I'm the highest rank out of all of you, and that grants me entitlement to make such selfish decisions without your consent."

"You're abusing your power!" Sora griped.

Tsuki waved her hand dismissively at them. "It's fine. Besides, I know for a fact I don't want to do it since I'll be helping Judd with judging Splatfest matches, nor does Sanae. Callie and Marie are going to be singing and dancing for 24 consecutive hours, so they obviously can't be inconvenienced with it, and Sanae is in charge of coordinating all of the events established for the younger Inklings."

Momo pinched her temples and said, "Yes, we're aware of that, but I'm in charge of assisting other volunteers with making and distributing food for those that are attending, and Sora is responsible for maintaining our supply of fireworks and making sure they're detonated periodically. How can you expect the both of us to those while simultaneously handing out prizes for game winners and assisting the technicians with the Turf Wars?!"

Tsuki innocently yet coldly responded, "You'll figure it out. I have some faith in you two."

Silence…

"Ouch." Vivi remarked while Sora and Momo sighed in defeat.

Tsuki's more assertive and commanding behavior always helped her in a multitude of ways in winning arguments and getting things to happen according to how she desired. The others still struggled to get accustomed to it, but since Chiro was already used to it because of their relationship, he couldn't help but laugh to himself about how Momo and Sora reacted.

However, Tsuki is aware that her actions do tend to cause some discomfort and burdens on others, and she does feel guilty when she sees how upset her friends become as a result of her self-centered decisions.

Tsuki sighed worriedly, "Okay, Sanae and I could assist you two intermittently to help alleviate the frustrations that come with the additional workload."

Mom and Sora exchanged quick glances at each other before crossing their individual arms across their chests as they contemplated over the minor compromise.

"Hmmm, how about you treat the both of us to lunch and dinner on Sunday, then we'll accept that." Sora immediately suggested.

Momo beamed at his additional requests and nodded ecstatically. "Yeah, and both the meals must be homemade by you. After all, you always gloat about being a spectacular cook because your mother taught you."

Tsuki tensed after that and hopefully shifted her attention toward Chiro, who sighed dejectedly and nodded.

Tsuki soundlessly thanked him and nodded to Momo and Sora in affirmation.

"Yes! Alright we should go now so we can start all the events on time." Momo gleamed as she sprinted out the studio before the others could respond.

"Ah, wait, Momo, wait for me!" Sora whined as he quickened his pace in an extremely futile attempt to catch up to her.

Carla sighed in exasperation as she whimsically walked next to Chiro.

"Oh, for goodness sake, sometimes Sora can be extremely hopeless. His shyness won't help him accomplish anything in regards to an actual relationship." Carla commented absentmindedly as she rested her elbow on the white haired kid's shoulder.

Chiro winced from the sudden contact before cocking his head towards her and eyed her curiously.

"What do you mean, Carla?" Chiro asked innocently.

"Sora really likes Momo, but he's too insecure to even attempt to confess his affections for her, out of fear of being rejected of course." Carla answered.

Chiro responded in surprise, "Really? Well, I guess I can see why he would be adamant about not confiding something like that in her. I mean, if he was rejected, he would start sulking and Momo might get tasked again with trying to cheer him up, which might hurt his pride even more."

Carla nodded in affirmation and was surprised Chiro gleaned that conclusion from how he saw Sora gripe about his luck with girls a few days ago.

"Yep. However, I doubt that might even occur. Momo is very proficient about concealing any romantic feelings, but I've seen her express some interest in him despite how subtle it may be." Marie interjected.

"Sora doesn't know?" Chiro asked.

Marie shook her head.

"Wow, he must be really oblivious as well. If I was in his circumstance, I probably wouldn't be unaware of a cute girl really liking me." Chiro remarked nonchalantly.

Unbeknownst to him, Vivi and Sanae slumped their shoulders and stared at him incredulously.

 _Has he really not fully understood what we've been doing the last few days? Or is he also stupid?_ Both Vivi and Sanae thought to themselves.

Tsuki and Carla sighed disappointingly at the boy while Callie and Marie just shook their heads while chuckling.

"Okay, you five should start leaving as well. We're about ready to kick start Splatfest with a brief news flash, then we'll head out to the stage trucks to sing…for 24 hours straight." Callie almost spat the last part of her sentence out with a lot of disdain.

Chiro could understand her dismay. Despite being world renowned pop stars, even having to sing for an extensive period of time must be truly exhausting.

Marie groaned at the mere mention of it.

"Don't remind me, Callie. It's bad enough that we have to do it, but I don't need you constantly being bitter about it by complaining. You're only making it worse for me." Marie chided.

Callie huffed and retorted, "Oh, drop the facade, Marie. Before the others arrived, you were doing nothing but whining. You're worse than I am!"

Marie took that as a personal affront.

"Hey, at least I can drive!"

Callie gasped in shock and offense.

"What the squid does that have to do with what we were just discussing?!" Callie bellowed before she gasped in realization, "Oh, since I just addressed a fact, you feel it's right to attack my own personal issues?!"

Marie screamed, "Yes, I do!"

A heated exchange transpired between the two as the others slowly made themselves scarce while ignoring the ridiculous family quarrel.

Tsuki quickly closed the door and sighed in exasperation as she pinched her temples and looked worriedly at her younger brother's concerned expression.

"What's wrong with you, Chiro?" Tsuki inquired.

Chiro shifted his attention from the closed door to his older sister and uncomfortably rubbed at his white tentacles. Callie and Marie's bickering, though muffled, could still be heard.

"Shouldn't we stop their squabbling? I mean, it's a minute before Splatfest, and their fighting. Wouldn't it be bad and embarrassing for them to be seen fighting as soon as the broadcast begins?" Chiro asked worriedly.

Tsuki only smiled fondly at her little brother's natural inclination to worry over others' well-beings, and lightly flicked his forehead.

Chiro slightly yelped at the abrupt impact of her finger, and before he could voice his minor irritation, Tsuki had tightly embraced him. She tenderly yet roughly ruffled his tentacles and planted a loving kiss on his forehead before releasing her hold on the slightly confused Inkling.

Chiro's cheeks were tinted red as he shyly looked at the others to see mix reactions.

Kori looked to be rather envious of him to receive a kiss from a squid as attractive as Tsuki, but he smiled nonetheless at his friend, while Carla cooed at their sibling affections. Sanae and Vivi on the other hand seemed to be on the precipices of jealously and frustration. However, they both only instilled that impression for a few moments before Chiro looked back at them. Afterwards, they immediately offered awkward smiles, which he found strange but dismissed the thought before he returned his attention to his sister.

"W-Why did you do that so suddenly?" Chiro said with as much anger as he could muster, but it may as well have only sound as light whining, which Tsuki found adorable.

Tsuki chuckled, "What? Can't I give my little brother a kiss every now and then?"

"Not in front of other people! It's embarrassing! Actually, you shouldn't even be doing that. There's only a two year gap between our ages. By now, siblings shouldn't even be expressing their love in such a manner. " Chiro whined.

Tsuki sighed, "That shouldn't matter. Nothing should prevent a sister from exhibiting her love for her brother, whom I haven't seen for two years if I might add."

Tsuki glared expectantly at her little white-haired brother as she crossed her arms, but she also looked to be a little hurt by what he said...

Chiro tensed from her glowering and mentioning of their lack in each other's presences. Now that he reflected on it, he was being rather selfish while he was whining, so he couldn't help but slump his shoulders in shame and regret.

"I'm sorry…..I…..didn't mean to hurt your feelings." Chiro meekly said.

Tsuki only smiled and kissed him on the nose this time.

"It's fine. I'll try to refrain from doing that in public if it still bothers you, but I can't make any guarantees," Tsuki giggled as she checked her phone to see it was now midnight, "Alright, Sanae, we have to go to our stations. Make sure the events for the kids go smoothly, and don't shirk your duties by asking someone else to do them again."

Sanae held her hands up defensively and nervously laughed.

"H-Hey, I've only done that maybe…." Sanae stopped to contemplate over the number, "…once."

"Five times." Carla quickly corrected, earning a glare from the fourth seat of the Elite 10.

Kori stifled a chuckle, "I concur with Tsuki, Sanae. There's no need to increase the burden of maintaining Splatfest for the others that are working tonight. So, please abstain from being lazy again like you did for the last seven Splatfest."

"Why did the number increase?! Don't speak to me about shirking my responsibilities, pervert. I at least attend the weekly meetings and do what I'm supposed to for other things." Sanae said spitefully.

Vivi monotonously commented, "San, I don't think you have the leverage to call him 'pervert', especially when you're one as well."

Sanae said in realization, "Oh….yeah….right."

Chiro eyed her curiously and inquired, "What's a pervert?"

Carla frantically waved her hands in front of her and hysterically said, "AHHHHH, YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW SOMETHING LIKE THAT!"

Chiro was caught by surprise by her abrupt screaming and retracted slightly out of fear.

"Okay, okay, can we just go already? I think I've had enough of just talking." Chiro timidly said as he coward behind Tsuki for protection.

Tsuki nodded in affirmation.

"Yeah, we need to go. Splatfest just began, and we're already a minute behind schedule," Tsuki said before looking at Carla and Kori, "Please, take care of my precious little brother."

Tsuki started to walk away before she stopped as she mused over a single notion.

"Oh, and please refrain from flirting with each other, Carla, Kori. Chiro's future is solely riding upon this examination, and I don't want the results to be inaccurate as a result of your carelessness and blatant flirting with each other." Tsuki said sternly before finally walking off with Sanae.

Kori and Carla blushed furiously at the possibility and looked everywhere but one another. An awkward silence pervaded the atmosphere around the remaining four until Vivi gruffly coughed into her petite fist, regaining the attention of the two older Inklings.

"Huh? Oh, right. Um, before we depart for the first battle, I need to debrief you two about how we'll be conducting this particular evaluation and the rule we'll be strictly abiding by as determined by the precedents established for examining new, potential members." Kori stated as he regained his composure along with Carla.

Chiro and Vivi nodded and intently paid attention to the older squid.

"There's no need to concern yourselves with too many rules. Essentially, all four of us will be playing together. As ordered by Tsuki, I'll be overseeing Vivi's performance, and Carla will be handling our little Whitey here…"

Chiro groaned at the absurd nickname originated from his hair color.

"…You two are restricted from requesting more than five breaks during the examination process and neither of you are allowed to sabotage each other during the process either, but I highly doubt you two would do that to one another anyway."

Chiro and Vivi exchanged quick glances at each other before smiling comfortingly and returning their attention to Kori.

Kori smiled at the two before continuing, "Lastly, in the event that one or both of you sustain an injury at all, the exam will cease and be postponed to a later date until you recover. Any questions?"

Chiro and Vivi shook their heads, and Kori and Carla nodded their heads in satisfaction.

"Alright, then, let's go!" Kori said enthusiastically before draping his shoulder around Chiro's shoulders and leading the way out of the studio.

Vivi was about to follow them until she felt Carla place her hand on her shoulder.

"Are you going to be fine tonight? As Kori said, if you don't feel capable enough tonight to play, we can postpone the exam." Carla said worriedly.

Vivi was still afflicted by her severe soreness, but she did a spectacular job at suppressing her pain; however, Carla could still tell she was still suffering significantly.

"No, it's fine, sis. I think I have the capacity to endure the exam for the next 24 hours. Besides, when I start to feel exhausted or overwhelmed, I can request a break to try and recuperate before we recommence." Vivi reasoned with Carla.

"But-" Carla started

"Sis, please, don't pester me into doing that. I've been aspiring to attain a position in the Elite 10 for some time now, and now that I have the opportunity to do so, I don't want to wait any longer than I've already have. Please, Carla, let me do this." Vivi almost begged her older sister.

Carla stared at her incredulously before sighing and nodding her head at her sister's resolve.

"Alright, let's go." Carla gestured toward the exit where Kori and Chiro were patiently waiting. Both could see that the radiant lights of the fireworks going off intermittently outside, and they could hear the festivities of the event and the Squid Sisters' singing resonating through the hallways from the open door of the exit.

Vivi nodded and followed her sister out.

* * *

For the next twelve hours, both Chiro and Vivi intently performed to the best of their abilities in the matches they participated in. The maps scheduled for Splatfest included Mahi Mahi Resort, Arowana Mall, and Moray Towers. The pair of four had on occasion encountered some competent players, but nevertheless, they would emerge victorious in all their matches, and they all achieved the highest ranks of Splatfest ranks almost instantaneously.

Chiro's dual-wielding ability enabled him to tackle foes in quick succession and cover a large amount of area to contribute greatly to attain victory for their team – and his advantage of being able to employ two separate special weapons made engagements being resolved much quicker and efficient. Vivi's use of her Inkbrush Nouveau allowed her to quickly traverse the maps and dispatch enemies first before the others. On occasion, she stayed close to Chiro and provided support when he appeared to be overrun by some of the competent players.

Yes, Carla and Kori were just as aggressive at times, but they primarily remained passive throughout their matches and defended their bases from all opposition and merely observed the two young Inklings perform.

One of the requisites of being considered for possible induction into the committee is possessing the ability to dispatch a full team of four players independently. Fortunately, Chiro and Vivi were able to fulfill that criterion with absolute ease. Early in the examination, Chiro was tasked with exclusively keeping enemies at bay while the other three covered the map with white ink. Chiro didn't struggle with that at all. Vivi was next to do it. She didn't do as well as Chiro due to her physical ailment, but according to Kori, she was exceptional.

After fourteen hours, Chiro and Vivi began to exhibit minor and extreme fatigue, respectively, and requested their first break for the entire session. Chiro had resigned to taking a quick nap along with Kori, which made it look as though they were two brothers resting together, while Vivi pleaded Carla to let her apply some muscle ache patches and sleep for an hour.

After recuperating for an hour, they proceeded with indulging in Splatfest matches.

Our fellow four Inklings had equipped their weapons for the upcoming match, and readily stood on the start pad and transformed into their squid forms. In a flash, they were teleported to Moray Towers.

Like previous matches, they spawned at the home base of the map and Chiro would instinctively focus his attention on assessing the enemy team and determining what weapons they would be utilizing in the current match. Chiro could see the entire opposing team was comprised of girls and were all utilizing Duel Squelchers.

Vivi was still using the Inkbrush Nouveau. Kori appeared to be using the Custom E-liter 3K Scope with the Kraken, which greatly complemented a long range and CQC playstyle, and Carla had the Carbon Roller. No matter how much time had passed, Chiro still felt a little cheap since we was wielding the Tentatek Splattershot and Splattershot Jr. but he pushed the thought to the back of his mind.

As the counter gradually decreased and all four of the Inkling eagerly prepared to lunge into battle, they could see the girls on the enemy team waving toward them in excitement.

The four exchanged quizzical glances before returning their attention to the girls and giving them curious looks.

"HEEEEEY, CHIIIIIRO!" One of the girls exclaimed at the top of her lungs.

Chiro eyed her with surprise at her deliberate beckoning for his attention in particular before he pointed to himself to confirm if she was actually referring to him.

The girl nodded enthusiastically, and the other girls joined her.

"Hi, Chiro!" Another girl yelled.

"Please go easy on us!"

"Are you busy after this?!"

"Can I be your girlfriend?!"

The incessant questions were uttered for the next few seconds, almost to the point that both teams almost missed the countdown timer reaching zero. Chiro was blushing furiously from the attention while Carla and Kori were desperately trying to stifle a few chuckles. Vivi on the other hand was glaring daggers at both the girls and Chiro before deeply inhaling and calming herself.

The clock counted down.

5…4…3…2….1…..GO!

Vivi and Momo were quick to ink the surrounding area around the base and swiftly swam off towards the center of the map. Kori quickly charged his weapon and fired, leaving a long white ink trail that lead directly to the middle of the map and swam in it. Chiro learned to take advantage of the trail Kori initially placed down to traverse to the middle instantaneously as well.

The next two minutes transpired rather quickly and victory seemed assured like all their other matches. Chiro was currently preoccupied with discharging his ink on the ground before he decided to consult his map and assess where the others were located. Kori was stationed one of the small platforms fastened on the walls to the sides of the map, and Carla was aggressively spreading ink in the center. However, what caught his attention was Vivi pushing into the enemy spawn; leaving a narrow trail of their ink behind her, but he noticed the trail quickly disappearing under yellow ink.

He deduced that at least one of the enemy girls was tailing her and was preparing to possibly ambush her since two of the Lemon Tea players were splatted and ready to spawn in.

Chiro took the initiative to click on the icon that represented Vivi and immediately transformed to his squid form and super jumped.

Vivi's exhaustion had finally caught up to her, and now she was struggling to even move a foot at a time. Her performance this game was severely inadequate; her movements were brutally sluggish, and she was merely dragging her Inkbrush instead of pressing forward with it in front of her.

She stopped in her tracks to try and recover. Vivi was sweating profusely and panting hard as she collapsed to her knees in a path of white ink.

"Oh…crap…I….can't…even….move….anymore…" Vivi gasped between her panting as she struggled to wipe the sweat away from her brow. After a few moments, she managed to catch her breath and slowly lifted herself up while using her Inkbrush as support.

Prior to continuing her assault on the enemy base, Vivi heard the distinct sound of sloshing behind her and caught sight of an enemy squid girl closing in on her position. Vivi gasped before looking forward to also see two more quickly approaching her as well.

"Oh, no! I can't lose now. I haven't been splatted yet! If Kori sees me get splatted, he'll dock me a substantial amount of points." Vivi screamed in terror as she frantically looked back and forth between her aggressors and tried to lift her Inkbrush, but to no avail. It wouldn't even budge.

All three of the Lemon Tea girls donned toothy grins as they all took aim and prepared to unload their ink on the defenseless girl.

Vivi tightly closed her eyes and anxiously awaited for the inevitable carnage that would unfold.

Just as all three of the enemies applied pressure to the triggers of their weapons and the first streams of their bullets propelled out of the barrels, Chiro had loudly landed next to Vivi and activated his Bubbler, shielding the both of them from the onslaught of yellow ink being fired upon them.

Chiro's sudden appearance startled the enemies, and before they could react, Chiro quickly splatted all three of them and discharge some white ink on the surrounding area to provide some maneuvering room for his and Vivi's escape.

Chiro holstered his Tentatek Splattershot and extended his right out to Vivi.

"Hey, Vivi, are you alright? You were in severe trouble and would have been brutally splatted if I hadn't come," Chiro asked with concern as he looked around to see another enemy was converging on their position, "We need to retreat for a moment so you can recover."

Vivi didn't verbally respond to his recommendation and sat in her location motionless with a disgruntled expression plastered on her face.

"Vivi?" Chiro asked again. He consulted his map once again to see that the three girls he splatted had respawned and were quickly closing in.

The normally turquoise haired girl sneered at the white haired boy's hand and swiftly slapped it away from her face.

The harsh impact alarmed Chiro, and he slightly retracted as he clutched at his hand and stumbled backwards down the inclined path they were on.

"I don't need your help, Chiro," Vivi bellowed at him, "I could have done that myself, and I don't need a noob such as you to lecture me about the best course of action in Turf Wars!"

Chiro shrugged his shoulders as he winced from her screaming.

"V-V-Vivi?" Chiro whimpered.

"What! Would you cease with being so timid and just go somewhere else and leave me be?! For ink's sake, you idiot; I don't need you to help me!" Vivi essentially screamed in his face.

Vivi's exhaustion and frustration with her inadequate performance has finally shattered her patience as she ventilated her rage at her crush. The heated screaming continued for a minimum of thirty seconds before she had finally calmed herself down and intermittently inhaled and exhaled gruffly to alleviate her remaining anger.

After her breathing had settled, Vivi regained her awareness of the situation as she apprehensively looked up to meet Chiro with minor tears accumulating at the corners of his eyes.

"Chiro?" Vivi gasped at the sight.

Chiro tensed and shakily backed away from her.

"I-I-I'm s-s-sorry, V-V-Vivi." Chiro choked as he quickly pressed the icon representing the base and super jumped away.

Vivi still urgently tried to reach out to him before he jumped, but it was too no avail. He was gone just as she touched his trail of white ink.

"Wow." A feminine voice said.

Vivi turned to see one of the girls from the enemy team staring with wide eyes and clasping her mouth over her mouth.

"That outburst was rather unnecessary, don't you think?" the girl asked.

Vivi didn't respond to her at all.

The instant she witnessed Chiro starting to tear up, she experienced a sick, sinking feeling in the pit of her gut, and that feeling didn't subside at all. On the contrary, the sensation only intensified as she plaintively looked back to her base and tried to see if she could catch a glimpse of Chiro.

As she focused her vision, she could only discern a blurry figure sitting with its arms around its knees with its back towards the map.

Vivi presumed that was most likely Chiro, and from what just happened, he was most likely crying, too.

She felt so guilty. She just made Chiro cry because she couldn't restrain her anger. She didn't intend on doing that, but her temper got the better of her, and now she knows her relationship with Chiro had just suffered a severe setback in regards to getting intimate.

The match soon concluded with the Milk Tea players winning with a score of 90.1% to 5%. After they were teleported back to the main lobby situated below Inkopolis Tower, Vivi instantly tried to speak with Chiro, but he would immediately avert his eyes and turn away from her every time she tried to reconcile.

This particular behavior continued for the remainder of Splatfest, with Chiro looking depressed while deliberately maintaining his distance from the girl. Eventually, Kori and Carla acknowledged this behavior and constantly asked why Chiro had suddenly started acting so distant. Vivi couldn't bear to tell them, especially Carla, so she would lie and claim she didn't know.

Chiro didn't utter a word for the rest of the exam and only did as he was instructed by Carla. At times, Carla and Kori would try to talk with him, but he would just put on a fake smile and shake his head, gesturing that he didn't wish to speak and be left alone.

Soon, Splatfest had finally ended, and all members of the Elite 10 had gathered back at the Squid Sister's studio at 12:00 AM on Sunday.

* * *

"Ugh, finally!" Callie exclaimed with joy.

"Yeah, my throat is so sore from all that singing." Marie complained a she tenderly rubbed her throat to ease the irritation.

Sanae groaned, "Hey, at least you didn't have to cope with kids for twenty-four hours. I swear, there were at least fifty kids that kept sticking their chewed gum to my shorts. I had to change ten times."

Sora sighed heavily, "At least you didn't have to deal with twice the work load. I was on the verge of collapsing so many times that I lost track of what I was doing."

Momo nodded in affirmation. "Yeah, you two owe us as well. While you two were having fun, Sora and I were working our tentacles off."

Momo said that as she pointed to Kori and Carla.

Tsuki clapped her hands to get everyone's attention before saying, "Good job, everyone. This Splatfest went extremely well from what I read online and heard in the streets around other Inklings."

She shifted her focus to Kori and Carla. "So, how did my brother do?"

Kori and Carla exchanged worried glances before looking towards the back of the studio to the aforementioned boy leaning against the wall alone with a solemn look on his face. The others noticed how unusually he was acting and gave him looks of concern.

"He…..did really well," Carla finally said with an awkward smile, "He's definitely on par to what an Elite 10 member."

Tsuki eventually nodded in satisfaction and looked over to Vivi.

"And how did your sister do?"

Kori answered, "Uh….she did well, too. She did struggle a few times, but they're not really anything too notable to consider when we deliberate later over whether we should induct both Chiro and Vivi into the group.

"Okay," Tsuki responded, "I guess we can all go now and get some much needed rest. Splendid job everyone."

Chiro perceived that as the cue to finally leave and quickly made himself scarce as he presumably was making himself home.

Unfortunately, he had left before Vivi could try to talk to him again, and said girl only looked shamefully at the vacant spot her crush once occupied.

"Hey….." A voice brought her attention back. It was Tsuki.

"What's wrong with my little brother? Did something bad happen? I haven't seen him look so depressed in years?" Tsuki asked with hysteria evident in her tone.

Vivi hung her head and responded, "I…I think I really hurt his feelings."

* * *

 **Please Review. Also, which girl are you guys wanting to be with Chiro. Your answers won't impact the story; I'm just curious. :)**


	10. Unexpected Outcome

**Splatoon: Pure White**

 **AN: Hello, everyone. I really want to apologize for not updating this story for over a year. In the Fall of 2016, I commenced attending university and was constantly overwhelmed with various assignments and writing multiple consecutive essays. Most of the time, I did not want to continue supplementing to this chapter and often deferred to playing a lot of video games to relax. Also, my motivation for this story declined significantly last year. Half of this chapter was composed last year, but the remaining half was written more out of obligation to you these last few days, and it can be easily seen where the events in the story become stale and lacking in diverse vocabulary.**

 **I am contemplating on relinquishing this story to anyone who is willing to consistently update it and make it more exciting, but I am unsure presently.**

 **Lastly, the cover image for this story is updated. It now not only depicts Chiro, who is in the center but Vivi and Sanae as well. Vivi is to right of Chiro while Sanae is to the left of him. These will be their eventual appearances as the story hopefully progresses.**

 **I want to thank Sprbouuz for allowing me to use his or her drawings as references when illustrating Chiro, Vivi, and Sanae. The artist is on twitter.**

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Unexpected Outcome**

A tranquil silence typically pervades the atmosphere of the city of Inkopolis following the exuberance and hectic conclusion of Splatfest. Many Inklings frantically scramble to compile as many matches within the remaining allotted time of the special occasion, and with that, some resort to committing shameful actions in an effort to shift the momentum of the battles. It is rather unfortunate, but there are a prevalent number of individuals that devote themselves eccentrically to Splatfests. Rather, their peculiar devotions to either Callie or Marie prompt them to resolve to cheating, sabotage, or even harassment. In regard to the males, it's frequent for some to engage in physical altercations with one another to reduce the numbers for the enemy team. It's not uncommon for many Inklings to be transported to hospitals for treatment, and the hospitals have grown accustomed to remaining open and quite more vigilant during the duration of Splatfests.

Doctors and nurses receive overtime, so they're appeased with attaining extra pay, anyway.

Oh, yeah, you could say they're doing so for the kids, too…

Disgustingly, a scarce number even antagonize innocent girls participating for the simple desire having fun. Usually, many end up being rendered to tears and running home. For girls, some do fight, but it's predominantly an exchange of scathing remarks; however, they are primarily the ones that cheat and sabotage. Cheating is done by either breaking other people's ink canisters, cutting the tubes connecting the weapons and canisters, or shattering the weapons entirely. Either way, Turf Wars for Splatfest yield an overwhelming amount of severe competition since Rank Battle players and Turf War players are not divided like they normally are.

Since the majority of Turf War participants expend an extensive amount of energy, regardless, the successive morning experiences a blatant stagnation of activity in the streets, especially at the main plaza. The distinct lack of commuters and bustle is attributed by varying responses to the outcome of the special event.

Team Milk Tea had emerged victorious in both popularity and wins!

Those who had affiliated themselves with the losing team remain confined to their individual homes to lament over their side's loss in the competition. Under most circumstances, they resign to secluding themselves for the majority of the day, or the whole day entirely. On the contrary, members of the victorious team normally relish in euphoria for dedicating themselves to the right side; however, overexerting their bodies to ensure that they emerge triumphant consequently renders them either partially incapacitated or completely exhausted to even burden themselves from leaving their homes as well. However, they still can boast about winning afterward and relax in content

Accordingly, a multitude of businesses experiences substantial stagnation in patrons and revenue as well. With a lower influx of young Inklings mingling about the intricate layouts and recreational centers of the city, stores, restaurants, and cafes are commonly open for short periods of time or closed completely for the day.

Logically, since the city in its entirety is almost utterly void of activity, one would anticipate witnessing virtually no one to be present at any of the various fitness centers situated throughout the city. Following suit with many of their contemporaries, most fitness centers are predominantly closed, yet the only one persisting through the permeating inactivity of the city is the more distinguished and prominent Olympic Squid Center.

Considering everyone is suffering from a temporary physical debility, and that many adults are indulging in their weekends with their exuberant or melancholy children, there shouldn't be a single Inkling dedicating a moment to improving their physical abilities at this center.

However, there are two quite familiar Inklings exploiting almost exclusive use of the enormous outdoor runners' trail that started at the center and intricately flowed through the capital city before leading back to the center. The path bolsters a plethora of inclines and was approximately five miles in total length. Many of aspiring Turf War competitors commonly seize advantage of this trail to monumentally escalate their stamina.

Rhythmic, running steps and consistent panting resounded through quiet atmosphere of the serene city.

"How…. *pant*…long…have we….*pant* been running, Kori?" Sora wheezed as he swiftly wiped away the sweat trickling down the sides of his face.

Kori directed a smug expression towards his fellow associate before stating, "What, Sora? Are you already beginning to undergo fatigue? We've only been running for thirty minutes, and have only traveled at least a mile. Surely, a member of the most prestigious and **physically** adept group of Turf War players, such as you, can endure far more grueling exercises."

Sora merely glowered at the older squid in response before his pace began to decline.

"Well, pardon me if I'm not as physically developed as you or the others. I can't grasp how you managed to persuade me to accompany you here and engage in some of your ridiculous workout routines." Sora griped as he swiped more sweat away and repeatedly pulled at his shirt to create a small breeze under it to cool his body.

Kori lightheartedly pushed Sora with his left arm while grinning from the praise.

"Well, you are my adorable little brother after all. It would be rather uncouth of me to completely dismiss your existence by at least not concerning myself with your lacking physical abilities." Kori uttered in a slightly demeaning tone.

After slightly recovering his breath, Sora grumbled, "You would be a far better brother if you had done just that this morning. Considering I had to fulfill three responsibilities the prior night to compensate for your and Carla's preoccupation with scrutinizing Chiro's and Vivi's performances, I assumed you would spare me of such cruelty by letting me sleep in!"

Kori raised his hands in a defensive position.

"Mother has been repeatedly pestering me to deter you from constantly engrossing yourself in playing videogames all the time. In retrospect, I'm utterly baffled that you haven't managed to ruin the lenses in your eyes yet. At this current juncture in time, I anticipated you requiring glasses or laser surgery." Kori countered meekly.

That remark only seemed to accomplish infuriating Sora even more. Both had momentarily discontinued their rigorous jogging by this time.

Sora bellowed, "I don't care what mom said! I was blissfully immersed in a deep slumber, and would still be right now if it wasn't for you. I wasn't even playing videogames! It's barely past 7:30 am!"

Kori couldn't resist shielding his delicate eardrums from the sheer intensity of his brother's hostile shouting.

"Well, you know the old saying, 'The early bird gets the worm'. In regards to our current circumstance, it's more like developing our physiques sooner than later like others." Kori mentally ridiculed himself for mustering such a pitiful response in an attempt to calm his brother.

Sora sneered, "Well, the early yellow bird is about to lose his delicate worm and have its eggs crushed if he doesn't shut up and let me go home!"

Kori instinctively covered his private region with his hands and cautiously withdrew a few steps from Sora.

"Please, no! How do you speculate Carla would react if she was made aware of damages you caused?! Think of the unborn children you'll be destroying!" Kori pleaded with hysteria.

"I need not be concerned with how your girlfriend perceives your ink sacs; now, let me go home! I'm exhausted!" Sora stated resolutely as he readied himself to initiate his assault.

"No! Exercising his highly beneficial to your health. You can't keep insisting on isolating yourself to the confines of our room to play your childish and ridiculous MMORPG games. The condition of your body will immediately begin to deteriorate. Moreover, your affiliated with the Elite 10; your obligated by the imposed regulations to maintain a certain level of fitness, and you frequently almost fail the routine physicals. You currently possess an opportunity for which many other squids are still aspiring to secure. Are you honestly going to squander your future by gravitating towards games that only provide fleeting entertainment? What would mom and dad think of you if you just wasted your position away?" Kori retorted.

Sora winced at the reminder of his close failures before Kori acknowledged his shoulders slumping in a dejected manner. The yellow-tentacle squid tentatively relaxed his defenses and approached his unusually quiet sibling before situating a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"In conjunction to that, how do you believe Momo would regard you if you did so as well? I'm aware that her opinion of you yields more significance to you than our parents'. Even though that indicates your priorities are reversed, she should be enough of a motivator for you to aspire and improve yourself. Is it worth losing a _real,_ potential girlfriend over that virtual one? What was her name? Nico?" Kori claimed with confidence.

"NEKO!" Sora aggressively corrected.

Kori retorted, "Not the point."

Sora complained under his breath, "The things I sacrifice for recognition and love. Fine, I'll continue doing this more a while longer."

Kori plastered an unimpressed and incredulous expression before condescendingly stating, "But you'll always remain inferior to me in both our positions in the group's hierarchy and skill. You're only doing it now because you want the only girl you like, that doesn't notice you as much, to finally offer her attention."

Sora clutched at his chest after the personal affront was remarked by his older brother prior to collapsing to the ground and being rendered to a hysterical state of sadness and childish crying.

"Perhaps I spoke rather crudely," Kori muttered to himself as he reflected over his exchange of words before dismissing the thought.

Quick, reverberating footsteps piqued the attention of both the adolescents and immediately dispelled the awkward ambiance previously surrounding the two moments. Gradually, the footsteps grew more intense in sound and pace, prompting the two boys to conclude that it was possibly another Inkling exploiting almost full use of the Olympic Trail without having to be concerned of it being congested with others. Kori was first to concentrate by squinting his eyes to accurately discern the approaching figure sprinting towards their direction. However, the action was fleeting since the familiar white glimmer evoked the identity of the Inkling: it was Chiro.

Both of the only males in the Elite 10 were befuddled at the fact that Chiro, who just expended a countless amount of energy the day and night before, was awake at an obscenely early hour, for a kid, and dashing extraordinarily fast.

It didn't take long for Chiro to also recognize the two lounging near the path before grinning widely at the two whilst waving frantically. However, as the innocent child was on the precipice of approaching the two, Sora instantaneously determined that the white tentacle boy wasn't decelerating and was intent on passing them.

Sora shifted his gaze to his older brother to see that he also arrived at the same inference.

Their speculation came to fruition as the boy hurried past them before remarking, "On your left!"

"Get up," Kori commanded.

"What?" Sora beckoned.

Kori repeated his command with more seriousness, "Get up! He just passed us because we had to stop for you! You know I hate being passed on this track."

Sora groaned in exasperation at witnessing Kori's eccentric competitiveness emerge once again, but he was even more ashamed of the fact it was being directed towards Chiro of all people. When he wasn't being an outlandish pervert, Kori always strived to excel in every regard in athletics, and naturally, that consequently resulted in him developing a severe sense of competitiveness. Regardless of a person's age, gender, or possible debilities with he or she may be afflicted, Kori will indiscriminately attempt to surpass them.

This quirk has led to some issues in the past, but ultimately, it is what enabled him to be recognized for a nomination into the Elite 10. To Sora's dismay, it's also led Kori to be slightly condescending towards him, but we'll reserve that issue for a much later juncture in time.

Kori had already commenced sprinting after Chiro whilst completely ignoring his younger brother. Sora pondered over the notion of seizing the opportunity to depart for home, but the image of Momo glaring at him with pity and contempt for squandering his position away as Kori had presumed she would pervade the forefront of his mind.

The young gamer muttered a few profane remarks that pertained to his sibling and Chiro's unfortunate timing for him before exerting the energy he recovered to try and catch up to the two.

* * *

"On your left." Chiro alerted to Sora as he passed him again.

Sora was sweating profusely from exhaustion as he could barely muster the strength to wave his hand in acknowledgment. He was slowly approaching the halfway mark.

* * *

"On your left!" Chiro, once again, alerted to Sora about his approach.

Sora heaved with a hoarse voiced , "I got it! Uh huh, on my left!"

* * *

Sora could faintly distinguish the familiar patter of running steps through his labored breathing and gasps for air. As Chiro quickly grew closer, the pink tentacled boy swiftly shifted his head to attain vision over his left shoulder.

Sora glowered fiercely and threatened, "Don't you dare say it one more time! DON'T SAY IT!"

Chiro slightly smirked out of boldness before nonchalantly stating, "On…..your…..left!"

"AHHHHHHHHH, COME ON," Sora screamed in utter frustration as he sprinted as fast as could. Though it was rather futile since Chiro soon disappeared into the distance, and the sudden surge in energy was fleeting because he immediately began to stumble before collapsing to the ground from fatigue.

* * *

After nearly another twenty minutes, Sora finally managed to arrive back at the Olympic Training Center to rendezvous with Kori. Luckily, the aforementioned individual was sprawled out on the ground near the entrance of the center hyperventilating with both of his arms draped over his face. As Sora took the liberty of trudging over and plopping down next him, he ascertained his elder brother donning an expression that seemed to be contorted with infuriation and defeat.

Sora hesitantly commented, "I assume you weren't able to catch up to Chiro considering I didn't see you at all after the kid passed me three more times."

Kori glowered at his brother before begrudgingly nodding in affirmation.

"I've been here for a while to be perfectly candid with you. In my vain efforts to match Chiro's speed, I ran at my full capacity all the way here. By that point, I couldn't continue, but Chiro seemed fine as I observed him continue for a second run," Kori bitterly remarked.

Sora panned his surroundings before saying, "Did Chiro go for another lap?"

"I guess so since he's not here," Kori huffed before noticing the individual in question approaching the end of the trail, "Speak of the devil."

Chiro eagerly waved to his friends as he lightly jogged over to their position.

"Good morning, you two. That was quite a pleasant warm-up, wouldn't you agree?" Chiro nonchalantly inquired as he wiped away a diminutive amount of sweat that accumulated on his forehead.

Kori stared at the younger boy with incredulity.

"You regard an extensive and rigorous exercise such as that as a mere warm-up?" Kori asked.

Chiro only responded with a confused expression on his face before settling himself down next to the duo and removing a water bottle from his pocket to refresh himself.

"In all honestly, something as trivial as that is a minor work out. Considering that I had to endure my mother's ludicrous bodybuilding routines the last two years, engaging in a less intensive activity such as that is gratefully appreciated at times." Chiro later explained.

Sora exclaimed, "Could you enlighten us as to what your mother made you endure in order for you to continuously run twenty-five miles without any problems?! Undergoing such a feat in under a period of thirty minutes for someone your age is quite unprecedented!"

Chiro cupped his chin as he mused over how to pertinently relay his dispositions to his older friends. A brief period of silence shrouded the three boys whilst they awaited Chiro's inevitable and carefully contemplated reply.

After much anticipation, Chiro sighed in content with the conclusion at which he arrived and calmly said, "Before my father's passing, my mom occupied a position as a prominent and world-renowned culinary artist, or chef, to more accurate. Her depth of knowledge encompassing culinary cuisine, health benefits of specific ingredients, and overall prowess in composing a balanced dish is unparalleled. Consequently, she was also an eccentric physical 'connoisseur'."

"Why did you apply some emphasis on 'connoisseur'?" Kori inquired, piqued at the atypical focus on that term.

Chiro shuddered at the recollection of his earlier exercise routines his mother imposed on to him. Rather, it would be significantly more appropriate to regard that period of time as more of a regimen on par to that of a fantasy superhero pursuing an unrealistic approach to developing a defined physique in order to attain unfathomable, almost in-inkling (inhuman), capacities of strength and stamina.

In retrospect, Chiro is flabbergasted at the prospect of him surviving that period of time.

"Maybe I should be more grateful that I'm alive and away from mom." Chiro murmured to himself while sighing almost depressingly.

The gesture didn't elude the brothers, prompting them to grow more apprehensive, yet indescribably eager, to listen to the white tentacled child.

Chiro stammered as a trickle of pitiable tears streamed down his face, "My mother…..she vehemently proclaimed that she wasn't going to raise a child that would….just lounge around the house all day….and grow overweight."

Despite their current exhausted and soreness, Kori and Sora spared no time lift themselves from their situation on the ground to frantically comfort the crying boy.

Chiro continued to relay his experiences through growing and comically hysterical sobs.

"Everyday…she made me do 200 push-ups, 300 sit-ups, 150 squats, and forced me to run 10,000 kilometers," Chiro chuckled with anguish blatant in his tone, "There was never much opportunity to embrace respite."

Kori and Sora exchanged looks of both astonishment and incredulity with one another as the young child in their arms persisted trembling from the recollection of his earlier childhood.

Despite the absurd nature of Chiro's claim, both the older boys could not discredit the equity and prospect of the white tentacled boy undergoing such a grueling regimen. Upon closer scrutiny in conjunction to their intimacy warranted from comforting Chiro, the high definition of his physique virtually corroborated with his remarks. Impressively, Kori and Sora could easily discern a developing six-pack adorning Chiro's abdomen and slightly prominent pectorals as the Cycling Shirt he donned exhibited little modesty in accentuating the contours of his muscles. His biceps were still small in comparison to Kori's, but that in part is mostly attributed to his younger disposition. As for the remaining inquiries concerning how defined Chiro is from the waist down, not much can be left to the imagination.

Also, it could more easily elaborate upon how Chiro is capable of dual wielding weapons that normally most kids are mandated to utilize two hands for considering the immense weight of certain weapons.

"It was awful!" Chiro wept through his hands clasped to his face.

Despite the young boy confiding a sensitive circumstance from his past to his older friends, the response was not what he was anticipating.

Kori and Sora's cheeks puffed in an attempt to inhibit their amusement, but they could not restrain themselves any further as they erupted in uproarious laughter – to the degree that they collapsed to the ground with tears of joy accumulating on the brims of their eyes.

Chiro's eyes sheered open and a deep blush from agitation and embarrassment lined his cheeks.

"HEY, IT'S NOT FUNNY! I ENDURED TORMENT FOR YEARS AND YOU LAUGH?!" Chiro practically screeched in an attempt to chastise his seniors, but it only emitted as more of a whine.

"I'm…sorry…man…but…," Kori tried to apologize through fits of his chortling, "But I can't believe you have a mother so hellbent on imposing such practices on a young child such as yourself!"

Sora added while trying to stifle his propagating laughter, "Your mother sounds utterly terrifying; her approach almost parallels what a monster would bestow on an innocent person."

"Maybe that is where Tsuki gets her daunting mannerisms and ideology from," Kori remarked, "The essence of a monster so intense that the daughter inherits it in order to perpetuate and disseminate the fear instilled not only in her own brother but others—i.e us—as well."

The comment accomplished eliciting more intense laughter from Sora; however, Chiro only grew increasingly more aggravated and indignant regarding the abrupt personal affront against his mother and older sister, but he couldn't muster the capacity to retort against the two since their perceived insights depressingly reflected them almost accurately.

Chiro interjected while sighing, "Ugh…I thought you two were my friends; I didn't think you two would mock my family so voraciously and openly while in front of me."

Kori was the first to recover his composure and nonchalantly placed a comforting hand on the white-tentacled boy's shoulder.

"My apologies, little bro," Kori uttered tentatively whilst still smirking innocently, "However, you have to sympathize with our position."

Chiro only responded with a dejected countenance as he narrowed his eyes in exasperation at Sora still laughing about the matter before returning his attention to Kori with a pleading expression.

Kori merely sighed with disappointment before delivering a light punch to the back of his little brother's head.

Sora promptly transitioned from indulging in excessive amusement to seething pain as he clutched at his head before hunching on the ground.

"What was that for, jackass!" Sora managed to exclaim as he proceeded to groan in agony from the sudden impact.

"As much as I would prefer to reprimand you for your continued deplorable behavior, I think its best you reflect on your horrible behavior and improve your attitude," Kori responded lazily as he patted Chiro's shoulder, who was minorly beaming at Sora writhing on the ground.

Sora muttered a few profane remarks under his breath to avert receiving another assault from his older brother out of spite rather than discipline, and Sora knew all too well that manner of punches are significantly more painful.

Whilst Sora was slowly recovering, Kori suddenly donned a contemplative expression as he mused over the notion that festered in his mind.

Kori snapped his finger in realization and satisfaction before stating, "Actually, I retract my previous statement. As an apology for poor Chiro here—who did undertake an extensive and rigorous evaluation and Turf War session the prior night—you should graciously treat him and me to breakfast."

Sora quickly erected himself on his feet and stared at his brother incredulously.

"What?! What kind of compromise is that?! Why am I the one who should invest my own money in buying you and Chiro breakfast?!" Sora instantaneously protested.

Kori shrugged. "You did persist with laughing at him mockingly for his traumas."

Sora only grew more flustered. "But you just did the same thing! Why are you not treating him instead?"

Kori merely waived his hand dismissively at his brother's counter.

"That's insignificant now. Now, don't be such an inker and buy our little friend his much-deserved meal after all. Holistically, Chiro and I need to celebrate for assisting in the acquisition of victory for team Milk Tea in the Splatfest. I suppose this could also be considered your repercussion for pledging loyalty to a team dedicated to a disgusting beverage." Kori said smugly.

Chiro gradually grew more inclined to the idea as well.

"THAT'S NOT FAIR," Sora griped, "That was never a punishment established prior to now. You're just imposing your whims on me again."

 _Why is this scenario seeming so familiar?_ Chiro thought.

"Do it or else I will inform Momo of your erotic game collection." Kori threatened with a contradictory look of glee but with an appropriate tone of malice and cynicism.

This elicited a shiver from Chiro while Sora was rendered silent and almost seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"NO! Please don't tell her; it would jeopardize any sliver of hope I would have of becoming her boyfriend." Sora pleaded as he descended to his hands and knees while vigorously bowing to Kori.

"Did you already have one?" Chiro, of the three, inquired to himself in almost a whisper, but the two older squids still managed to discern.

Kori had to quickly clenched his fist over his mouth to prevent a chuckle from escaping while Sora glared furiously at the young boy, causing Chiro to wince from the hostile aura being directed at him.

Before matters escalated out of hand between the two, Kori intervened by clutching the back of Sora's shirt and dragging him behind him as he commenced walking towards the general direction of the Plaza.

"Alrighty…Chiro, come on. Let's indulge in some breakfast at the café to commemorate your first victory in a Splatfest. Be sure to order whatever dish you crave since Sora here is treating," Kori casually remarked as he tilted his head to gesture towards the squirming pink head in his grasp, "Won't that be great?"

Sora shook his head frantically.

"Of course it will!" Kori continued with an accompanying nervous laugh.

The scene of Kori dragging Sora evoked memories of when Chiro first encountered Carla and her aggressiveness with how she practically manhandled him all the way to the café.

"déjà vu." Chiro commented before following the two.

* * *

"This is just ridiculously unfair and unnecessary." Sora spat bitterly as he took a bite out of his bacon.

Kori sighed in exasperation at his brother's persistent complaining after sipping his orange juice.

"Honestly, are you still bickering about having to pay for one meal? Stop behaving so stingily and resign to your punishment such as an adult would." Kori minorly chided as he diverted his attention to Chiro silently indulging in a plate of calamari with a side of Chow Mein next to him.

The yellow-tentacled boy couldn't fathom how Chiro found such a combination of morsels appealing as a suitable meal for breakfast, but Kori ultimately shrugged at the notion given that he concluded everyone possesses different preferences for food.

Kori vividly recalled Carla ordering a large array of strawberry cheesecakes and grilled fish for breakfast on their first date. He shuddered at how she could possibly find such a revolting mixture of conflicting textures and flavors delectable, but he harbored no desire to question her at the risk of being assaulted and potentially ruining any opportunity of securing their first kiss. Though, he did wish he gave her gum afterward. Holistically, Chiro's selection is tame in comparison, and Kori has no intention of kissing him, so there's no reason to voice any criticism.

While glaring at him, Sora responded, "Even an adult would express disdain for being obligated to do something that was imposed upon them whimsically. You know I have to dedicate a substantial amount of time to earn gold."

This remark piqued Chiro's attention and prompt him to remove himself from his veil of silence.

"Sora, why does it take you a long time? Cumulatively, you're the eighth best player in Inkopolis; surely someone of your astounding and formidable abilities would effortlessly amass large sums of money to compensate for most expenditures." Chiro stated and lightly praised the pink-tentacled boy before taking a heaping bite of his Chow Mein.

Sora felt a minor sensation of embarrassment compounded with glee from the compliment, only for it to be immediately shattered in realization of what he had to respond with to elaborate upon his grievance.

"W-w-w-well…I…I…I…" Sora stammered, causing the younger child to look at him with confusion.

Kori perceived the sudden uncomfortableness exuding from his little brother, along with Sora's inability to answer, as an indication to exploit another opening to depreciate Sora's presence for Chiro.

In his stead, Kori responded slyly, "He devotes a majority of his leisure to playing online MMO games and peculiar erotic ones."

The sheer amount of dismay and embarrassment that billowed within Sora towards Kori could not in any way be captured with words, but the fury resonating from his being was palpable to other two at the table.

Kori instinctively raised his hands defensively whilst still leering at his flustered sibling.

"You know…you could have at least omitted the latter part of the explanation." Sora sighed defeatedly.

While waving dismissively, Kori lightly countered, "No, I think it is pertinent to enlighten this blissfully innocent child," Kori rested his hand on Chiro's left shoulder, which caused him to lightly yelp from the sudden contact, "To whom he may, unfortunately, be interacting with and what mannerisms he should avert imitating for not only his sociability but to promote his chances of actually getting a girlfriend."

Sora deflated at the affront against his incessant gaming inclinations and Kori's allusion to his inability to obtain friends other than the other affiliates in the Elite 10, some of with which he still suffered difficulties establishing friendly relations.

"Why is it you are so infatuated with berating me about my lacking social skills? Also, I can get a girlfriend." Sora retorted meekly.

Kori immediately shattered his intrinsic confidence.

"Your progress with Momo apodictically contradicts your proclamation."

An aura of somberness and melancholy enveloped the pink-tentacled gamer could undoubtedly be palpable to Chiro and Kori.

Chiro looked at his senior with worry before lightly directing a disapproving expression at Kori.

"That was rather callous despite how seemingly indisputable it is from what I could glean from your and other's comments encompassing him." Chiro remarked nonchalantly.

Sora's head jolted up in astonished perturbation.

"Have you all been belittling me behind my back?" Sora whined.

Chiro instantly distanced himself from Sora's claim by saying, "They have, but I didn't."

Chiro basically lied as he recalled his comments the prior night over Sora's handling of romantically advancing with Momo came to the forefront of his consciousness, but he did not have the energy to tolerate any unpleasantries directed at him from Sora since he wanted to become better friends with him—whether it is out of pity, obligation, or genuine interest has yet to be discerned.

Sora fleetingly sighed in relief while Kori suppressed a scoff at the blatant lie.

Sora returned his attention to Kori.

"My affections for Momo…. may be eluding her," Sora half-heartedly reasoned—as if he is attempting to spare his feelings and cushion the impact his brother's insensitive insult yielded against him— "As far as I am aware, she has never had a boyfriend, so maybe she is unfamiliar with romance in conjunction to how to pertinently reciprocate my advances."

Kori sighed in exasperation, "Are you for eel? You are almost as pathetic as Chiro when it comes to this stuff?"

"What did I do?" Chiro complained at the abrupt comparison.

"What?" Sora asked baffled.

Kori spoke firmly, "Very well, then I propose you approach this more directly and simplistically. Call Momo right now and request a date."

Sora transitioned from being overwhelmed with depression to panic.

"WHAT?!" Sora exclaimed.

His sudden exuberance elicited both of the other two to minorly jump in their seats.

Kori pressed on, "If whatever conduct your pursuing is proving unfruitful, then just ask her out right now and insist you two do something tonight."

"B-b-b-but…" Sora managed to stammer out.

Sora frantically mused over a plethora of reasons to denounce any notions of even abiding by Kori's more direct and abrupt guidance regarding Momo, and it did not take him long to surmise a rather simple reason.

"I can't. It is rather early still, and since our responsibilities were more than doubled last night during the Splatfest, I undoubtedly believe she is still sleeping." Sora murmured barely audibly to the two.

"No, she's awake." Chiro calmly revealed while taking another bite of his calamari.

Sora and Kori both looked at him oddly, prompting Chiro to elaborate on his statement.

"I unintentionally walked in on her bathing in my and Tsuki's bathroom before I came out to run."

Both Chiro and Kori distinctly heard a disturbing shatter pierce their eardrums following Chiro's comment. Chiro scanned the café to discern the source of the commotion, but Kori instantaneously knew that it was the sound of Sora's soul shattering from shock—plus, the emotionless state he was in along with being severely pale corroborated with his conclusion.

"So…you walked in on Momo taking a bath?" Kori asked.

An intense blush graced Chiro's cheek as he recalled the aforementioned predicament and relayed what he was willing to say concerning his peculiar encounter with Momo.

* * *

 _Flashback_

Chiro awoke gasping for air and scrambling to sit up in his bed as a cold sweat accumulated on his forehead and slowly trickled down the sides of his face. After a few moments of suffering shock-induced hyperventilation, the young boy's anxiety slowly settled and gradually reacquired his bearings.

Earlier within the week, just one day after growing accustom to his new apartment, Tsuki had evicted Chiro without his consent and took the initiative of moving his possessions and food into her own, essentially compelling him to move in with his sister. Accordingly, Tsuki had negotiated with Ms. Kiara and the General Manager to allocate his rent to be half of what Tsuki was financing for her apartment. Chiro was perplexed with how Tsuki accomplished doing all of this whilst he was preoccupied with preparing for Splatfest with Vivi, Sanae, and Momo without his authorization, but it was later disclosed that Tsuki is technically registered as his guardian. Tsuki explained that she and their mother had briefly spoken about that prior to his arrival to Inkopolis, but it was easy for him to glean that Tsuki was indignant about discussing their mother, and he did not want to pester at the risk of infuriating his typically mellow and slightly imposing sister.

Chiro's new room was only one of three integrals to Tsuki's loft style apartment. And it bolstered many similarities to his old room except for being sparse one connecting bathroom and having mahogany hardwood flooring rather than carpet with a 70" flat screen across from his bed.

"Another nightmare again…" Chiro muttered to himself while wiping away the lone tear running down his left cheek.

A soft groan to his left piqued his attention. Despite being still unnerved and groggy, Chiro still could not resist sighing in exasperation at the sight of his sister sleeping far too close to him and staring worriedly. Despite his earlier protests, Tsuki had persisted with always sleeping with him since he moved in.

"Chiro…was it about dad again?" Tsuki yawned, drowsiness evident in her voice and mannerisms. Chiro deduced his nightmare tantrum startled her awake, and his guilt only intensified as he acknowledged the digital clock by her bedside notifying that it was only 6:45 am.

"I…" Chiro paused with insecurity prevalent in his tone, "I don't know if that man was our dad or not. With all the horrors bombarding me, I can't simply concentrate on him."

Tsuki sighed dejectedly as she lifted herself to wrap her arm around her brother to comfort him.

"Chiro, I have said on multiple occasions that the one with red tentacles is our father, Saiba Knight."

"Yeah, but you know the nightmares are sporadic for me. When they strike, it's difficult for me to remember that when I see those…Octarians relentlessly pursue me. I just want to get away. When our dad appears, all I witness is him being restrained and surrounded before red ink just gushes out and I hear him utter an unfathomable shriek of pain and terror. After that, I just wake up screaming for him." Chiro's voice was beginning to tremble.

Tsuki pressed Chiro closer to her body, and the distraught boy gratefully accepted the gestured and rested his head on her shoulder for more comfort.

After a few moments of silence, Tsuki decided to voice herself when she was more confident that her younger brother was more prepared to speak again.

"Hey, I…" Tsuki started.

"Why am I having these? I cannot even vaguely recall dad, or even encountering Octarians for that matter, yet they are the only ones plaguing my nightmares. Furthermore, I see this enormous octopus traversing the air in a DJ-like saucer, laughing maniacally at dad being splatted." Chiro continued, his voice growing more stagnant.

He looked to his sister for solace but was met with a disturbingly grim expression.

"Sis?" Chiro asked concerned and intimidated simultaneously.

Chiro's words disrupted Tsuki's inner thoughts and brought her back to reality.

"Hey, let's just cease discussing this right now, okay? After all, last night was rather hectic and exhausting for you…especially with Vivi," Tsuki muttered the last part noticeably bitterly, "Why don't we just go back to sleep and have some breakfast later."

Chiro eyed her skeptically and asked, "You mean have me prepare breakfast while you just sit idly by and watch television?"

Tsuki winced at the inquiry and pouted.

"Well…not entirely."

Chiro could only raise his brow, and Tsuki was surprisingly growing timid under his gaze before she succumbed to it.

"Okay, yes, but in my defense, I cannot cook. You should be aware of that." Tsuki whined.

"Which baffles me tremendously considering our mom was a renowned chef. Honestly, how do you burn water?" Chiro quickly responded as he removed himself from the bed and proceeded to procure his shorts and Cycling Shirt from his dresser, much to Tsuki's childish dismay.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm not interested in sleeping anymore at the risk of my nightmare continuing. I'm going to wash my face before I go out for a light jog."

Tsuki slammed herself down onto the bed in anguish and commenced whining at him.

"C'mon, I want to sleep some more, and It's better with you here!"

"And you can do that alone. You're sixteen, act your age, sis." Chiro finally chastised before making his way out of his room and gently shutting the door. His sister's griping remained audible even through the door and walls separating the two.

It never ceases to astound him how childish she can be. He found it endearing since it slightly reminded him of Vivi.

Chiro listlessly glanced around at his surroundings, as he was still growing accustomed to living in a significantly larger abode than his previous one-bedroom apartment.

As previously stated, Tsuki resided in a loft-styled apartment. Immediately across from Chiro's room was the bathroom. Surprisingly, it was disquietingly similar to his last one except for the floor tiles being patterned in zig-zags with gold squids situated intermittently throughout the floor. To the left was the front entrance to the apartment after the foyer where he and Tsuki left their footwear to the actual front door. To Chiro's right was the spacious interior of the living room and the kitchen. The main living room was adjacent to Chiro's room. The walls were a light beige with white wooden framing. The wall nearest to Chiro's room had an enormous black Crate and Barrel couch situated against it. On the opposite wall was a 100" LED 4K flat screen television encapsulated in a chestnut media suite with miscellaneous gaming consoles, amiibo figurines, and movies shelved in the various shelves. Between the entertainment center and couch was a white glass top coffee table with a stack of coasters, a flower vase, and a few magazines from Tsuki's subscription to Tweenkling Monthly. Lastly, the right wall was essentially a series of sliding glass doors that opened to a small balcony that yielded a scenic view of the Plaza if one were to look to the right and the construction of Inkopolis square, which, if Chiro recalled correctly from what his sister said, wouldn't be completed for another two years.

On the opposite side adjacent to the bathroom was the kitchen. A mahogany dining table was situated close to the wall near the bathroom. The opposite end was adorned entirely by the sink and dish washer encased in by a granite counter top and cabinets. The countertops were topped with a dish rack near the sink and cooking knifes nearest the more open side near the left wall. Above were more cabinets store appliances, cups, and bowls. On the end nearest the living room was the refrigerator. Lastly, on the left wall was a stove positioned in the middle between to large windows adorned with white silk curtains. These, along with the glass doors in the living room, helped to provide ample illumination to the first level of the apartment even during the early morning hours.

Towards the end of the of the first level were two more rooms. The one on the left was apodictically labeled as Tsuki's room given her name was plastered on it with various plaques.

 _Why does she even need those if she lived here alone before I came?_ Chiro pondered to himself.

On the right was the guest bedroom. Between the two doors was a wooden spiral staircase that ascended to the second level where Tsuki kept her computer, gaming computer, various manga, Turf War weapons, and other gaming peripherals.

"Ugh, it's already 7:00 am. I wish I could sleep at least past nine. I haven't been able to rest properly ever since coming to Inkopolis." Chiro groaned spitefully as he opened the door to access the bathroom.

The interior layout of the apartment was peculiar in which there existed a short corridor where the washer and dryer were situated at the end and to the left of the privacy sliding glass doors that led to the bathroom itself.

Chiro slowly trudged to the end to remove and deposit his night shorts and basic white t-shirt before equipping the Cycling Shirt and his typical black shorts. What caught his attention though was another set of shorts, a vest, pink panties, and a pink training bra haphazardly thrown around the floor just before the bathroom door.

Chiro sighed disappointedly as he presumed these belonged to Tsuki, who he thought was just being extremely lazy and taking the extra moment to properly store her filthy clothes in the hamper that was a mere foot away.

"I'll have to reprimand her again for this later," Chiro groaned, "God, sis, I would at least expect you to pick up after yourself."

Chiro would soon retract his scold as he subsequently slid the bathroom door open and was greeted with the sight of Momo thoroughly indulging in a bath.

The said girl was obviously completely exposed and held no blatant reservations with sighing loudly with content as she slid down into the warming bath ink until it slightly surpassed her shoulders. Fortunately for her and Chiro's sake, her back was facing Chiro, so the boy could not even attain a glimpse of her more private…assets, but that deficiency didn't deter the young boy from shamefully staring at the negligibly older girl from his position.

Chiro admired how her dark naval tentacles beautifully contrasted with here minorly pale skin, which appeared slightly flushed particularly at her slim shoulders and along her neck mostly from the heat of the transparent ink. He could not muster the nerve to move and close the door to ensure Momo never knew he was there.

Unfortunately, the unbeknownst observation of Momo was fleeting as she rotated her head over her right shoulder and acknowledged the white-tentacled child observing her with surprise and embarrassment plainly distinguishable in his expression in addition to immense red blush surfacing on his cheeks.

Rather than a prompt reaction from the girl, the two remained deathly silent as they stared almost absentmindedly at one another. Chiro was hysterically contemplating over the many responses Momo could potentially adhere by to handle his impertinently staring at her while bathing, but that only managed to elevate his trepidation as most of the scenarios he devised ended with him assaulted.

However, Momo's consequential response was unexpected.

"So…do you intend to continue gawking, or do you want to finally come over and help me wash my back?" Momo asked slyly while a smirking mischievously.

At this juncture, Chiro belatedly realized his shameful mannerisms and shrieked in terror while clasping his hands over his eyes.

"Well, it's not polite to scream at the sight of a young girl exposed. It could shatter her self-esteem." Momo continued while feigning coyness and sorrow.

With his hands still over his eyes, Chiro frantically bowed apologetically and sprinted out, not averting colliding with the walls twice before finally exiting the door for the corridor.

Afterwards, Chiro slammed his bedroom door open and commenced spouting a series of confused, uninterrupted, and incoherent wheezes towards his sisters while pointing aggressively towards the bathroom.

After a few moments of misperception, Tsuki partially grasped what Chiro was attempting to say and enlightened him that Momo insisted to come see him last night so see if he was okay after witnessing him be uncharacteristically silent and forlorn. With it being rather late by the time they returned to the apartment and him already being asleep, Tsuki offered for Momo to stay the night, which the girl gratefully accepted, so naturally, she would still be there and most likely freshening up.

With that explanation out of the way, Chiro continued to spurt nonsensical sounds and squeals of mortification before a familiar cough interrupted him. Both siblings turned their attention to Momo leaning halfheartedly against the door frame in nothing but a long white shirt and boxers.

"Morning, Momo." Tsuki greeted exuberantly.

"Morning," Momo reciprocated the greeting.

"You sure you want to dress like that in my little brother's presence?" Tsuki asked in an almost playful manner.

Momo shrugged with a smile.

"I know he's not the type to do anything like gawk at me, right?" Momo teased while looking expectantly at Chiro.

Chiro's only impulse was to sprint out of the apartment as fast as he could. The last thing he could hear were both girls laughing their tentacles off.

 _End of Flashback_

* * *

"So, that's how eventful my morning was up to meeting both of you on the trail." Chiro trailed without establishing eye contact with Sora and no signs of his blush subsiding.

Kori was struggling to stifle his laughter while Sora could only stare disgruntledly out the window at their booth, bickering about how unfair his life is in comparison to Chiro's.

"Of course, you're so endowed that this stuff happens to you." Kori chuckled.

"What stuff?" A familiar voice interjected abruptly.

All three boys clutched at their chests and notably jumped in their seats in shock. After securing a few moments to recompose themselves, they noticed Sanae calmly standing near the table waiting for someone to respond to her inquiry.

"Jeez, Sanae, could you not startle us so early while we're trying to eat." Sora sighed.

Sanae only stared at him quizzically and said, "I've been here for a little time. It's your fault for not noticing me obviously standing here. Now, what happened to you, Chiro?"

Chiro wasn't particularly inclined to answer out of embarrassment and fear, but that seemed to elude Kori as he casually replied, "Oh, he saw Momo naked earlier."

A piercing shatter filled the atmosphere following that disclosure, sounding virtually reminiscent to the earlier one Sora made.

Kori stared apprehensively at Sanae knowing she made it that noise.

 _Man, people are breaking today because of you, Chiro_ Kori thought

"Where is that coming from?" Chiro asked as he looked around the café again.

Sanae only narrowed her eyes and minorly glowered at the white-tentacled boy while forcing a crooked smile.

"You saw WHAT?!" Sanae asked emphatically while a menacing aura exuded from her.

Chiro visibly shrunk in his seat and raised his hands defensively before slowly sliding closer to Kori for protection as a body shield if things went awry.

"I-I o-only s-s-saw her b-b-back and s-shoulders – nothing from the f-front." Chiro stuttered.

"-_-…did you see her butt?"

Chiro shook his head erratically while Sora was thrown into a coughing fit from the sudden question.

Sanae continued to smile deceivingly before she angrily plopped down in the seat across from Chiro.

"San, are you okay?" Chiro asked tentatively.

"I'm just peachy; I'm so happy for you, pervert."

"I'm not a pervert! It was completely by accident!" Chiro retorted while blushing.

"So you say."

Kori deadpanned at the exchange and stared incredulously at Sanae.

"Sanae, you know just as well as every one of our friends and family that you have no room to call another person a pervert." Kori smiled.

"Well…" Sanae started.

"That is something I can attest to." A burlier voice suddenly said.

All four Inklings turned to see the owner, Joe, approach them and set an omelet down in front of Sanae.

"Uncle Joe, you're supposed to defend me here," Sanae whined.

Joe shrugged in despondence.

"Under normal circumstances, yes, but as the male pervert here stated, you are a vehement pervert, and I've given up on correcting that behavior of yours," the older man eyed Chiro for a moment before proceeding. "Especially with the provocative statements you've made about wanting to taste this boy right here to Carla and Vivi a few days ago when you had the calamari."

Sanae blushed strongly while covering her face.

Kori and Sora were rendered speechless at how forward Sanae has been with expressing her romantic and lewd sensations pertaining to Chiro and how blunt her uncle was for calling her out on it in front of Chiro.

"I love you, but I can't comprehend how you can be so…lecherous, but when someone responds almost as flirtatiously, you become a distraught and nervous mess." Joe pressed.

Sanae visibly flinched before uneasily looking up at Chiro.

Fortunately for her, the innuendo her uncle relayed did not seem to be grasped by her crush as he merely stared at her and the others in confusion.

Despite their interactions, Chiro is luckily not versed in inappropriate ideologies like Sanae and Kori, and took what her uncle said at face value.

"San, I would not mind you tasting me, but wouldn't I have to undergo special screening to have my tentacles used in food?"

"Oh, my god," Sora exclaimed in exasperation.

"Don't encourage her, boy," Joe said bitterly.

Subsequently, Kori's phone started ringing, and the teen scrambled to pull it out of his shorts while expressing some gratitude that a call came when it did to help diffuse the awkward conversation that was occurring before him.

"Hello? Tsuki, you couldn't have called at a better time." Kori responded with a nervous chuckle and smile.

However, the smile was soon replaced with a frown.

"What?! You can't do that to her; she did well accordingly to my evaluation! You can't impose such a decision at your own accord." Kori spat with anger accompanying his perplexed tone.

The others stared at Kori with severe concern, ignorant to the discourse he was engaged in with Tsuki.

"Tsuki! TSUKI!" Kori practically bellowed into his phone before slamming it down on the table.

"Bro, what's wrong?" Sora asked.

"Chiro, we need to go and smack some sense into your selfish sister," Kori exclaimed with urgency.

"What? Why?" Chiro asked with worry.

"Well, whatever happened between you and Vivi last night must have pissed your sister off because now she's forbidding Vivi from being inducted into the Elite 10."

* * *

 **Now that all of you see how Chiro looks in comparison to Vivi and Sanae, which one of the two do you want Chiro to be with now? Please Review.**


End file.
